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Chinese spy tech is endangering US hospitals. Texas is trying to shut that down
Fox News ^ | 3/16/26 | Chuck DeVore, Dr. Clifford Porter

Posted on 03/16/2026 3:45:04 AM PDT by Libloather

Millions of Americans depend on medical devices — pacemakers, infusion pumps and patient monitors — to stay alive. But some of that equipment is made in China and it may be spying on us – or worse.

In January 2025, the Food and Drug Administration and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency issued a stark joint warning: patient monitors made by Contec Medical Systems, a Chinese company based in Qinhuangdao, contain a hidden backdoor. These devices, used in hospitals across the United States, can transmit sensitive patient data to a hard-coded IP address in China. Even more troubling, the backdoor allows remote code execution, potentially letting an adversary manipulate displayed vital signs and trigger dangerous clinical decisions.

There is no patch to fix it. For China, it’s a feature, not a bug.

China’s 2017 National Intelligence Law requires every Chinese company to assist state intelligence operations on demand. When Beijing says open the door, the company complies. The implications for any Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-linked device in America’s health care system are clear and unacceptable.

President Donald Trump recognized the danger early. In September 2025, his administration launched a Section 232 national security investigation into medical equipment imports, citing the risk that foreign powers could weaponize supply chains. Investigators discovered CCP-linked devices even in U.S. government-funded research labs.

Dependence on an adversarial foreign supplier using state subsidies to dominate American competitors is bad enough. But add to that, the threat of sudden export cutoffs in a crisis as we saw during COVID-19 and the peril is heightened. If hospitals rely on compromised supply chains, patients could be left without lifesaving technology when it matters most.

(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Conspiracy; Health/Medicine; Local News
KEYWORDS: chicoms; china; espionage; healthcare; hospitalstexas; manufacturing; privacy; spy; spying; texas
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All your data are belong to the chicoms.
1 posted on 03/16/2026 3:45:04 AM PDT by Libloather
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To: Libloather

Yep, and that shark fin antenna on vehicles …..


2 posted on 03/16/2026 3:54:25 AM PDT by no-to-illegals (The enemy has US surrounded. May God have mercy on them.)
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To: Libloather

Between insurance companies using AI to deny claims, or make it very difficult, and all of the companies that gave IP to Chinese factories, needing medical care in the US of A is now fraught with hidden danger.

There is a reason that China is vacuuming up all the data (intelligence).

Can chaos be far behind?


3 posted on 03/16/2026 3:56:41 AM PDT by texas booster (Join FreeRepublic's Folding@Home team (Team # 36120) Cure Alzheimer's!)
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To: texas booster; mass55th
Nah.  The Chinese Communists are always looking out for Americans.  Maybe that's why they are supplying shiploads of fentanyl to the Central American drug cartels.

As far as these devices are concerned, what could go wrong?  sarc...

4 posted on 03/16/2026 4:10:36 AM PDT by poconopundit (Tommy Robinson, love you man. Keep up the good fight. Make the UK Great Again.)
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To: Libloather

Talk about your long game!


5 posted on 03/16/2026 4:18:24 AM PDT by Flaming Conservative ((Pray without ceasing))
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To: texas booster
This is what happens when give an enemy control of the manufacturing of mission critical products and infrastructure.

China is an adversary who looks at all the products that they ship to the US for opportunities to embed malware, cyber warfare and sabotage features where ever possible.

You would be amazed at what can be hidden in embedded silicone circuitry on chips. and China is adding this sort of functionality at all levels of their products

Everyone who is familiar with this are very apprehensive wonder what is going to happen when all this gets activated at the time and place of China's choosing

If we remember the chaos created by the Mossad's Operation Grim Beeper, just think of what happens when China signals all the pacemakers made in China or with Chinese chips to start malfunctioning or shut down.

And a number of years ago, we discovered Chinese sabotage equipment installed in massive high voltage power station transformers made in China that were capable of creating voltage spikes and EMP events that could take out entire regional power grids for months or even years

Thank the Lord we were able to keep Huawei and other Chinese digital communications vendors from dominating our 5G network technology.

6 posted on 03/16/2026 4:22:06 AM PDT by rdcbn1 (..when poets buy guns, tourist season is over................Walter R. Mead)
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To: Libloather
This is ridiculous and totally unacceptable. Our health care shouldn’t be reliant upon medical devices made in a country run by a government that is hostile to us.

If this was during WWII would we be buying medical devices from the Nazis or Japanese?

7 posted on 03/16/2026 4:30:46 AM PDT by telescope115 (Ad Astra, Ad Deum…)
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To: Libloather

How in the HELL does this crap get approved for use in the first place? “Made in China” has become synonymous with, “We’re spying on you”...


8 posted on 03/16/2026 5:07:46 AM PDT by trebb (So many fools - so little time...)
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To: Libloather

I think the network folks could probably block traffic to the hardcoded IP address after monitoring it.


9 posted on 03/16/2026 5:35:55 AM PDT by microgood
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To: rdcbn1

Heck, I won’t even buy a new computer monitor or tv anymore. It’s probably paranoia, but...it’s outright madness to rely on them for medical devices and medicines.


10 posted on 03/16/2026 5:43:58 AM PDT by Buttons12 ( )
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To: Libloather

China is our enemy. And we have just made them lose face in Venezuela and Iran no matter the final outcome. A cornered animal will often strike out.


11 posted on 03/16/2026 6:03:44 AM PDT by captmar-vell
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To: Libloather

I got defibrillator implanted a few weeks ago. I’ve felt like I’m being watched ever since.


12 posted on 03/16/2026 6:20:51 AM PDT by suthener ( I do not like living under our homosexual, ghetto, feminist government.)
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To: suthener

Just roll with it. Wore a monitor for a few weeks. Press the button to report. Wicked awesome.


13 posted on 03/16/2026 6:23:16 AM PDT by Libloather (Why do climate change hoax deniers live in mansions on the beach?)
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To: Libloather

Like he!!


14 posted on 03/16/2026 6:25:07 AM PDT by sauropod
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To: microgood

They can they just need the tools to discover it

The newest HIPAA rules coming into effect mandate network topology management, segmentation and other controls that will eliminate the vast majority of these risks if properly implemented


15 posted on 03/16/2026 6:40:26 AM PDT by Manuel OKelley
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To: Libloather
All your data are belong to the chicoms.

I've always suspected the 23 and Me type websites were created by China to grab Americans' biological data by exploiting their hopeless narcissism.

16 posted on 03/16/2026 6:44:23 AM PDT by Lizavetta
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To: Libloather

What use could China make of people’s vital measurements? None, absolutely none. This is fear pron.


17 posted on 03/16/2026 6:59:00 AM PDT by GingisK
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To: Libloather

“hard-coded IP address in China”
Block it in the firewall.


18 posted on 03/16/2026 7:42:25 AM PDT by FrankRizzo890
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To: suthener

Have you tried ordering chinese food on that thing?


19 posted on 03/16/2026 8:14:44 AM PDT by lowbridge ("Let’s check with Senator Schumer before we run it" - NY Times Editor)
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To: Buttons12
Back in the day I was involved in an effort to forensically examine the circuit artwork on microprocessor and memory chips.

It was amazing what was found embedded at the actual circuit silicone circuit level of the chips.

At least one major theft of US defense tech can be attributed to malware embedded at the circuit level of a chip by the Chinese. .

20 posted on 03/16/2026 9:05:31 AM PDT by rdcbn1 (..when poets buy guns, tourist season is over................Walter R. Mead)
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