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US-China relations
ChinaDiplomacy

US moves against cybersecurity ‘risk’ posed by China-made port infrastructure

  • Biden executive order will push vessels and facilities to shore up security and mandate reporting of cyber incidents
  • At the same time, the coastguard will impose cybersecurity requirements on owners and operators of Chinese-manufactured cranes at US ports

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The US coastguard intends to assess more than 200 Chinese-manufactured cranes at American ports for cybersecurity risks. Photo: EPA
Bochen Han
US President Joe Biden and the American coastguard are announcing a series of actions on Wednesday to guard against China’s presence in the country’s port infrastructure.
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Biden will sign an executive order to push maritime vessels and facilities to shore up their cybersecurity and mandate the reporting of cyber incidents, according to deputy national security adviser Anne Neuberger.

At a press briefing on Tuesday, Neuberger said the administration will also be investing more than US$20 billion into US port infrastructure over the next five years, including an effort to onshore American crane manufacturing.

Rear Admiral Jay Vann, commander of the United States Coast Guard Cyber Command, told the same briefing that the service will impose cybersecurity requirements on the owners and operators of Chinese-manufactured cranes in the US.

The coastguard – the sole branch of the US military housed under the Department of Homeland Security – will release a plan to establish baseline cybersecurity requirements for the entire marine transport system, he said.

US officials have been raising alarms that Beijing could remotely operate Chinese-manufactured cranes to disrupt the flow of goods. They are also concerned that data collected from the cranes could reveal information about US military shipments.

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