A Military Earthquake.

Value comes with inference.

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1. U.S. officials said Tuesday they had not been able to expel Chinese government hackers from telecommunications companies and internet service providers, warning concerned users to turn to encrypted messages and voice calls and giving no timeline for securing carriers. The downbeat press briefing came more than three months after the first report of Chinese spies deeply penetrating major carriers for espionage, and after the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) met with scores of companies to help them shore up defenses and hunt for hackers in their networks. “Given where we are in discovering the activity, I think it would be impossible for us to predict a time frame on when we’ll have full of eviction” of hackers from the networks, said Jeff Greene, executive assistant director for cybersecurity at CISA. (Source: washingtonpost.com, italics mine)

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2. China on Tuesday banned exports to the United States of the critical minerals gallium, germanium and antimony that have widespread military applications, escalating trade tensions the day after Washington's latest crackdown on China's chip sector. The curbs strengthen enforcement of existing limits on critical minerals exports that Beijing began rolling out last year, but apply only to the U.S. market, in the latest escalation of trade tensions between the world's two largest economies ahead of President-elect Donald Trump taking office next month. A Chinese Commerce Ministry directive on dual-use items with both military and civilian applications cited national security concerns. The order, which takes immediate effect, also requires stricter review of end-usage for graphite items shipped to the U.S. Gallium and germanium are used in semiconductors, while germanium is also used in infrared technology, fibre optic cables and solar cells. Antimony is used in bullets and other weaponry, while graphite is the largest component by volume of electric vehicle batteries. The move has sparked fresh concern that Beijing could next target other critical minerals, including those with even broader usage such as nickel or cobalt. (Source: reuters.com)

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