“How can it be a spy satellite if they announce on television that it’s a spy satellite?”
–George Carlin

If you’re ever at a major U.S. port, take a look at the cranes looming over the container ships and see if you can spot any Made in China stickers on them. Did you know that about 80% of the cranes that lift containers off ships and put them on the docks in the U.S. are made by China? Now imagine China using those cranes for espionage and cyber attacks. I’m not describing the plot of some James Bond-type spy movie. The government is warning us right now that that’s a real possibility.

Thus, U.S. ports are getting a new set of regulations to follow in case their cranes really are spy devices, as John Gallagher reports in a FreightWaves article:

“Owners and operators of over 200 Chinese-made container cranes at U.S. ports will be subject to new cyber-risk management requirements aimed at reducing China’s ability to spy on America’s domestic supply chains.”

The Coast Guard, on behalf of the Department of Homeland Security, announced yesterday that owners and operators of the Chinese-made cranes “should immediately contact their local Coast Guard Captain of the Port (COTP)” to obtain copies of Maritime Security Directive 105-4. The directive gives the new “cyber risk management actions” to follow.

For more, read the full post in Universal Cargo’s blog.