The National Counterintelligence Collection and Security Center on Monday (Feb. 1, 2021) released a report that says the Chinese Communist Party has for years collected large amounts of health care data from the United States and countries around the world by both legal and illegal means, saying it poses a threat not only to Americans’ personal privacy but also to the U.S. economy and national security.
The National Counterintelligence Collection and Security Center says the Chinese Communist Party has entered the U.S. market and obtained data by acquiring U.S. companies that handle sensitive personal health information and other personal data. Chinese companies have also gained access to U.S. health data by working with U.S. hospitals, universities and other research institutions.
As an example, the report says that during the Communist Party’s virus pandemic, China’s Huada Genetics Corp. said it had sold virus testing kits to 180 countries worldwide and set up virus testing laboratories in 18 countries as of last August, thanks to a major push by the Chinese government. These activities will help the Chinese Communist authorities to collect genetic information from foreigners.
As for illegal methods, the report mentions that Chinese government Hackers breached the computer systems of U.S. health insurance company Anson in 2015, stealing personal data on nearly 80 million people. The National Counterintelligence Collection and Security Center said access to this personal data gave the Chinese Communist regime a great opportunity to target employees of the U.S. government and private companies in order to obtain the intelligence information Beijing wanted to gather against the United States.
The National Counterintelligence Collection and Security Center released a report on Feb. 1, 2021, that says China’s massive collection of U.S. personal medical data threatens national security
The report concludes that having personal health information on Americans could help China improve its artificial intelligence and ability to develop precision Medicine, helping Chinese biotech companies continue to develop new drugs to take over the global leadership of U.S. biotech companies.
William Evanina, director of the U.S. Counterintelligence and Security Center, attends a cybersecurity conference on Oct. 31, 2017 (Reuters)
William Evanina, who just stepped down as director of the National Counterintelligence Collection and Security Center, addressed the highlights of the report in an interview with U.S. media just before it was released, and the center retweeted a report about an interview with the former center director.
This suggests that the new Biden administration, like the former Trump administration, will be on high alert for China’s efforts to collect U.S. personal data and compromise U.S. national security.
Chinese Hackers Breached U.S. Anson Health Insurance Company’s Computer System in 2015
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