FCC WANTS CHINESE TECH OUT OF US PHONES, ROUTERS

    U.S. officials are discouraging U.S. telephone and internet companies from purchasing Chinese technology that could be used for surveillance, Federal Communications Commissioner Ajit Pai announced Monday.

     “Threats to national security posed by certain communications equipment providers are a matter of bipartisan concern,” Pai said. “Hidden ‘back doors’ to our networks in routers, switches — and virtually any other type of telecommunications equipment — can provide an avenue for hostile governments to inject viruses, launch denial-of-service attacks, steal data, and more.”

     Pai plans for the FCC to vote next month on a rule that would bar U.S. companies from using a federal subsidy program to purchase equipment from companies entangled with foreign intelligence agencies.