Could hackers target your car's tires?



Hackers have found another way into your car's computer system: where the rubber meets the road.

Thanks to the TREAD Act, every new car since 2008 comes with a tire pressure monitoring system. It's what turns on that annoying low-pressure light we're all familiar with. By monitoring the the air pressure of each tire and alerting the driver when the pressure falls below a certain threshold, you car's TPMS makes you safer. It also makes you a bigger target for hackers.

TPMS hackers could gain access to other systems within the vehicle, such as the engine or brakes, leading to complete control of the vehicle.

The problem is that TPMS uses unencrypted radio frequencies for the communication between the tire and the receiver. Hackers can "spoof" these signals, allowing them to send false data to the vehicle’s computer, such as indicating that the tire pressure is higher or lower than it actually is.

Takeover

Big deal. You can hack my car and turn on my little pressure light? Annoying, sure. I didn’t think I cared until I learned that your TPMS radio frequency receiver is hooked directly into the car's ECU — the computer that controls everything from fuel injection to exhaust, fuel mix, electricity, engine stats, timing, electric car driveability, and more

What's more, this RF receiver is usually the same receiver that talks to your remote key fob to open the doors and disarm your security system.

RELATED: Could a hacker blow up your EV remotely?

Bloomberg/Getty Images

Compromised safety

So what exactly could a hacker do via your TPMS? More than you might expect.

TPMS hacking can:

  • Compromise the safety of the vehicle by causing incorrect tire pressure readings, which can lead to accidents or tire blowouts.
  • Capture data about the vehicle, such as its location and driving habits.
  • Gain access to other systems within the vehicle, such as the engine or brakes, leading to complete control of the vehicle.

Gauging the risk

So what can you do to keep hackers out? You should be as cautious of your car’s security as you are of public Wi-Fi and keep your vehicle's software up to date. Additionally, be wary of any attempts to physically tamper with your TPMS sensors.

And it can't hurt to have your own dial or digital pressure gauge. If that tire pressure light kicks on and your tires seem fine, check the pressure against the number inside the driver's door. If it it's fine, it could be a sign that your TPMS has been compromised.

Someone hacking into your car this way is unlikely, but if it does happen, it could be a disaster. As vehicles become more connected and rely more on electronic systems, this and other cybersecurity issues are something to keep an eye on.

China Escalates Cyberattacks That Are Increasingly Hard To Detect

The Trump administration must take decisive action to hold the Chinese government and its affiliated hackers accountable for their cyber activities.

Secret Service Foils Foreign-Linked Plot To Disable NYC Cellular Network Amid UN General Assembly

The Secret Service on Tuesday dismantled an illicit network of electronic devices in the New York tristate area that could have been used to shut down cell networks as world leaders gather in Manhattan for the U.N. General Assembly.

The post Secret Service Foils Foreign-Linked Plot To Disable NYC Cellular Network Amid UN General Assembly appeared first on .

Israeli government official arrested in child sex-crime sting, flees to Israel



An Israeli government official was arrested during a child sex-crime joint sting operation in Nevada earlier this month, racking up a felony charge of "luring a child with computer for sex act," according to a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department press release.

Tom Artiom Alexandrovich, 38, was named as one of the eight arrested during a Nevada Internet Crimes Against Children Unit joint operation with the FBI's Child Exploitation Task Force earlier this month.

Alexandrovich was reportedly released from custody on $10,000 bail after an initial court appearance and then returned to Israel.

Those arrested reportedly believed that they were meeting underage children whom they had met online for sex acts, but they were apprehended by law enforcement in part of the two-week sting operation.

RELATED: Epstein-funded MIT lab hosted panel that discussed 'child-size sex robots'

Photo by ABIR SULTAN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

According to an alleged screenshot of a since-deleted LinkedIn profile, Alexandrovich is the executive director of the Israel Cyber Directorate, a government agency that operates under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office. Another screenshot also placed him in Nevada during early August, talking about the Black Hat conference and cybersecurity:

Two things you can’t escape at Black Hat 2025: the relentless buzz of generative [artificial intelligence] and the sound of Hebrew … in every corridor. ... The key takeaway? The future of cybersecurity is being written in code, and it seems a significant part of it is being authored in #TelAviv and powered by LLMs. An exciting time to be in the field!

Black Hat 2025 was a cybersecurity conference scheduled for August 2-7 at Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The Jewish Chronicle reported that a "Tom Alexandrovich" is due in court in Clark County, Nevada, on August 27 in connection with an alleged offense on August 6, a date that coincides both with the Black Hat Convention and with the Nevada police sting operation. Alexandrovich was reportedly released from custody on $10,000 bail after an initial court appearance and then returned to Israel.

According to an article published Wednesday by Ynet, an Israel-based outlet, the Israeli prime minister’s office initially issued a statement denying that the official was even arrested. “A state employee who traveled to the U.S. for professional matters was questioned by American authorities during his stay,” the initial statement read. “The employee, who does not hold a diplomatic visa, was not arrested and returned to Israel as scheduled.”

In a Saturday report, Ynet said that the Cyber Directorate claimed its earlier statement "was accurate based on the information provided to us" when presented with evidence of the arrest. The office denied that it had any involvement with posting Alexandrovich's bail, though it is unclear who posted it. Alexandrovich is reportedly on leave "by mutual decision."

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department did not respond to Blaze News' request for comment on the circumstances of Alexandrovich's arrest.

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The real spyware threat could be in your pocket



U.S. intelligence agencies are on high alert after CNN reported that Iran is actively preparing cyberattacks aimed at critical government and military infrastructure. But the real threat may already be inside the wire — not from foreign hackers at a keyboard, but from mobile phones unknowingly or deliberately carried into the nation’s most sensitive facilities.

The devices we carry every day are now among our greatest national security vulnerabilities.

In 2025, secrets aren’t stolen with a crowbar. They’re stolen with an app.

Despite years of post-9/11 investments in hardened infrastructure, the federal government has been remiss in investing in a sensor network to keep pace with the risks of wireless technology now embedded in daily life.

When the first iPhone was introduced in 2007, it ushered in a new era of hyper-connected mobility. Since then, innovation has continued to explode, bringing countless benefits but also exposing serious vulnerabilities.

Our most secure government facilities are wide open to wireless threats.

Today, up to 90% of secure government facilities rely on little more than the honor system and self-reporting to keep unauthorized wireless devices — mobile phones, smartwatches, rogue transmitters — out of sensitive compartmented information facilities, special access program facilities, and other high-security zones. In an era of Pegasus spyware and remote malware, this should be viewed as a national security malpractice.

Portable security risks

The modern smartphone is a traitor’s dream — portable, powerful, and everywhere. It records audio and video, it transmits data instantaneously via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and cellular networks, and it connects to everything — from commercial clouds to encrypted chat apps. And yet these devices are routinely brought into facilities housing classified intelligence data, most often undetected and without consequence.

Take the case of Asif W. Rahman, a former CIA analyst who held a top-secret security clearance and was recently sentenced to three years in federal prison for photographing classified information and transmitting it to unauthorized recipients, who then posted the material to social media. Snapping and sharing photos of classified government documents using a smartphone is stunningly simple, with no high-tech espionage or daring break-ins required.

Every week offers new examples like this. People inside the Department of Defense and State Department have been caught photographing screens, copying documents, and walking classified data right out the door. These are crimes of opportunity, enabled by lax enforcement and outdated security measures.

If a wireless intrusion detection system were in place, the device would have triggered an alert and stopped these breaches before they became major national security failures.

Exploiting our weaknesses

Now, with Iran probing for cyber vulnerabilities, the risk of insiders being exploited or coerced into facilitating digital breaches through personal devices has never been higher. And it can happen without a trace if the right wireless defenses aren’t in place.

In 2023, the secretary of defense issued a memo directing all Defense Department offices to install wireless intrusion detection systems to monitor unauthorized devices. The technology works. It detects any device that emits a wireless signal — such as phones, smartwatches, or even printers with Wi-Fi — inside a restricted area. Yet the directive remains largely unfunded and unenforced.

RELATED: After the bombs, Iran sharpens its digital daggers

Gwengoat via iStock/Getty Images

Near-peer adversaries, terrorist groups, and criminal syndicates are exploiting wireless threats to their advantage. They don’t need sophisticated tradecraft and specialized technologies. They simply need to compromise and leverage someone with access and a phone. And with thousands of secure facilities across the country, that opportunity presents itself every day.

In light of the latest intelligence warnings, we need to fund wireless intrusion detection across all SCIFs and SAPFs and educate agency leaders on the vulnerabilities posed by modern smartphones.

We need to hold bad actors accountable — not retroactively or as part of a congressional committee hearing, but by making sure they never have the opportunity to compromise the integrity of national security in the first place.

Protecting digital secrets

The U.S. government has spent billions building concrete walls, locking doors, and implementing network-specific defenses to protect its secrets. But in 2025, secrets aren’t stolen with a crowbar; they’re stolen with an app.

Until we treat the wireless threat with the same seriousness, those secrets will remain just one text message or compromised phone away from unauthorized disclosure of highly classified information.

You can’t protect your most sensitive state secrets if you are blind to the threat. Without action, these vulnerabilities will only grow more dangerous — and more missions and lives may be put at risk.

Editor’s note: This article was originally published by RealClearDefense and made available via RealClearWire.

After the bombs, Iran sharpens its digital daggers



The footage was unmistakable: plumes of smoke rising over Iran’s nuclear sites, a fiery punctuation mark on years of brinkmanship and intelligence coups. With one sweeping air campaign, the United States delivered a message: The Islamic Republic won’t cross the nuclear threshold.

But anyone assuming the threat has been neutralized is mistaken. Iran’s nuclear humiliation may hasten a shift already under way — from building bombs to waging war through digital disruption.

Cyber warfare offers something the mullahs crave: the ability to humiliate, disrupt, and retaliate without risking direct military confrontation.

Even as diplomats celebrate a ceasefire, cybersecurity experts remain on alert. In 2025, a regime doesn’t need enriched uranium to paralyze an enemy. It needs a cadre of skilled hackers, access to stolen exploits, and no scruples about targeting civilian infrastructure.

Iran’s cyber playbook didn’t appear overnight. In 2012, the Shamoon virus devastated Saudi Aramco’s systems, wiping tens of thousands of computers. Since then, Tehran has steadily advanced its cyber operations.

Today, Iran commands a capable and motivated digital force. With its nuclear facilities in ruins, the regime has every reason to flex other muscles. Cyber warfare offers something the mullahs crave: the ability to humiliate, disrupt, and retaliate without risking direct military confrontation.

They’re not the first to embrace this model.

Russia, long dominant in the cyber realm, has hammered Ukraine with digital attacks targeting power grids, satellites, and financial systems. Criminal groups like Conti and Black Basta operate under Moscow’s protection, extorting ransoms and leaking stolen data to sow chaos.

This blending of espionage, sabotage, and state-backed crime has become a blueprint for autocracies under pressure. Iran, hemmed in by sanctions and unrest, doesn’t need to invent the model. It just needs to adopt it.

Most Americans still think of cyberwar as an abstract threat — something IT departments handle behind the scenes. That complacency works to our enemies’ advantage.

Take zero-day vulnerabilities: flaws in software even the developers don’t yet know exist. They’re sold on dark markets for eye-watering sums and let hostile actors bypass traditional defenses undetected.

Then there’s Chaos RAT, a remote access trojan capable of burrowing into a network and sitting dormant for months. Once triggered, it can steal sensitive data, erase backups, or crash entire systems on command.

Iran possesses both the motive and the skill to deploy these weapons — and the timing couldn’t be better for the regime. With its nuclear program crippled, it needs a new front to demonstrate relevance.

RELATED: Google confirms Iranian hacking group targeted Trump, Harris presidential campaigns

daoleduc via iStock/Getty Images

China’s cyber militias show what’s possible. Groups like APT Silver Fox specialize in patient infiltration, building access over years. Iran lacks Beijing’s global reach, but the methods are accessible. Tehran’s hackers borrow code from Russia, shop the same black markets, and lease infrastructure from the same digital underworld.

The global cyber arena now functions like a black-market bazaar: fluid alliances, shared tradecraft, and few rules. Almost everything’s for sale.

So while headlines tout the ceasefire between Israel and Iran, they miss the next act. No truce binds a nation’s hackers. Cyber operations offer deniability by design. When a hospital network locks up or a power grid fails, Tehran’s response will be predictable: denial, distraction, and a smirk about the West’s poor “cyber hygiene.”

Expect Iran to probe how far it can push in cyberspace without drawing more missiles in return. And unless the West prepares accordingly, those probes may succeed.

America still leads the world in conventional firepower. But cyber defense remains its soft underbelly. Agencies like the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency have made strides, but critical infrastructure — power plants, water systems, hospitals — still run on aging software and patchwork security.

Iran doesn’t need to destroy a city to spread fear. A flip of a switch in a power station or the theft of sensitive government files can inflict lasting damage — and create leverage.

This imbalance between battlefield dominance and digital vulnerability demands urgent correction.

Cybersecurity must move from an IT line item to a strategic national priority. That means building AI-driven detection systems, developing real deterrence for cyberattacks, and forging public-private partnerships to defend vital infrastructure.

Iran’s nuclear setback matters. But no bomb erases a hacker’s know-how. No missile strike disables an ideology that thrives on asymmetrical warfare.

The coming months will test whether the West has learned anything. Tehran’s leaders need to prove they still have teeth. While their nuclear ambitions smolder, their cyber arsenal remains sharp — and likely emboldened.

The next war may not begin with jets roaring over deserts. It may start silently in the fluorescent-lit halls of a data center, where intruders already hide behind blinking servers, waiting.

In that theater, the rules are different — and the consequences no less severe.

A brutal wake-up call from America’s most powerful banker



Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase — one of the most powerful financial institutions on earth — issued a warning the other day. But it wasn’t about interest rates, crypto, or monetary policy.

Speaking at the Reagan National Defense Forum in California, Dimon pivoted from economic talking points to something far more urgent: the fragile state of America’s physical preparedness.

We are living in a moment of stunning fragility — culturally, economically, and militarily. It means we can no longer afford to confuse digital distractions with real resilience.

“We shouldn’t be stockpiling Bitcoin,” Dimon said. “We should be stockpiling guns, tanks, planes, drones, and rare earths. We know we need to do it. It’s not a mystery.”

He cited internal Pentagon assessments showing that if war were to break out in the South China Sea, the United States has only enough precision-guided missiles for seven days of sustained conflict.

Seven days — that’s the gap between deterrence and desperation.

This wasn’t a forecast about inflation or a hedge against market volatility. It was a blunt assessment from a man whose words typically move markets.

“America is the global hegemon,” Dimon continued, “and the free world wants us to be strong.” But he warned that Americans have been lulled into “a false sense of security,” made complacent by years of peacetime prosperity, outsourcing, and digital convenience:

We need to build a permanent, long-term, realistic strategy for the future of America — economic growth, fiscal policy, industrial policy, foreign policy. We need to educate our citizens. We need to take control of our economic destiny.

This isn’t a partisan appeal — it’s a sobering wake-up call. Because our economy and military readiness are not separate issues. They are deeply intertwined.

Dimon isn’t alone in raising concerns. Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt has warned that China has already overtaken the U.S. in key defense technologies — hypersonic missiles, quantum computing, and artificial intelligence to mention a few. Retired military leaders continue to highlight our shrinking shipyards and dwindling defense manufacturing base.

Even the dollar, once assumed untouchable, is under pressure as BRICS nations work to undermine its global dominance. Dimon, notably, has said this effort could succeed if the U.S. continues down its current path.

So what does this all mean?

RELATED: Is Fort Knox still secure?

mphillips007 via iStock/Getty Images

It means we are living in a moment of stunning fragility — culturally, economically, and militarily. It means we can no longer afford to confuse digital distractions with real resilience.

It means the future belongs to nations that understand something we’ve forgotten: Strength isn’t built on slogans or algorithms. It’s built on steel, energy, sovereignty, and trust.

And at the core of that trust is you, the citizen. Not the influencer. Not the bureaucrat. Not the lobbyist. At the core is the ordinary man or woman who understands that freedom, safety, and prosperity require more than passive consumption. They require courage, clarity, and conviction.

We need to stop assuming someone else will fix it. The next crisis — whether military, economic, or cyber — will not politely pause for our political dysfunction to sort itself out. It will demand leadership, unity, and grit.

And that begins with looking reality in the eye. We need to stop talking about things that don’t matter and cut to the chase: The U.S. is in a dangerously fragile position, and it’s time to rebuild and refortify — from the inside out.

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Mark Milley’s legacy: Gridlock, dead zones, and lost time



In just a few months, the Trump administration has secured major wins for Americans by cutting bloated government, tightening border security, and reasserting U.S. strength abroad.

Now, as its economic agenda gains momentum, the administration is turning its focus toward repatriating wealth and boosting consumer confidence. Supporting the working class will also require renewing the president’s tax cuts — an essential step for sustaining growth and addressing the budget deficit and national debt.

Trump and his team are committed to breaking through the bureaucratic inertia and exposing outdated policy that blocks American competitiveness.

One practical way to pay down that debt is to auction off portions of the communications spectrum — America’s wireless airwaves — to competitive American companies. These firms have built out the high-speed networks we rely on every day. Spectrum auctions have already generated more than $258 billion for the U.S. Treasury. Yet, huge swaths of this valuable asset remain tied up in federal hands.

The last major spectrum auction, conducted under Trump’s first term, raised $22.4 billion. Since then, progress has stalled. The Department of Defense has refused to budge — blocking further releases of spectrum needed to expand 5G access and innovation.

That stonewalling was shaped in part by the rigid posture of former Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley, who was criticized for backchannel communications with China and accused by President Trump of “treason.” Milley’s legacy of obstruction still casts a shadow over spectrum policy.

No one disputes the need for a strong, modern military. But the Pentagon’s refusal to share spectrum is hurting U.S. economic leadership. The benefits of 5G — greater efficiency, higher speed, and lower latency — depend on unlocking new constellations of network equipment that amplify wireless performance and shrink infrastructure costs.

China understands this. It has deployed the world’s largest 5G network and allocated more than 370% more spectrum than the U.S. It recently became the first country to reach 1 billion 5G connections. At the same time, Beijing has backed cybercriminals and hostile actors that target American infrastructure. The stakes are high — and the risks are real.

Instead of expanding spectrum access to keep pace, the U.S. Defense Department — under Milley’s watch and beyond — has distracted network developers with a “dynamic sharing framework.” This alternative relies on the Citizens Broadband Radio Service, marketed as a new frontier and “fertile ground” for wireless innovation.

In theory, it sounds promising. In practice, the system is riddled with inefficiencies. CBRS simply cannot meet the demands of the next wave of commercial and defense innovation. By clinging to bureaucratic workarounds, the government is slowing progress — and putting the U.S. further behind.

Independent experts have warned that the low broadcast power levels mandated in the CBRS spectrum severely limit performance. Users far from a cell tower face degraded service, while lower-priority operators may get no protection from interference and suffer from chronic congestion. Despite official spin, analysts report little to no meaningful investment or innovation from commercial players.

These dead-end designs stem in part from Milley’s resistance during his tenure to serious discussions about spectrum reform. But this stagnation has allies, even now that he’s gone.

Before the full scope of CBRS’ flaws became clear, cable industry operators placed big bets on it. They hoped new use cases would emerge, but soon realized CBRS couldn’t deliver on its promises. Rather than pivot to better broadband solutions, the cable lobby launched a campaign — “Spectrum for the Future” — aimed at locking competitors into these same flawed systems. The result: lobbying to preserve the status quo while freezing the wireless industry’s progress toward faster, more scalable infrastructure.

The United States cannot afford to cling to the illusion that military control of technology alone secures national strength. Commercial innovation is just as critical. President Trump understands this. As he moves his agenda forward, he and his team are committed to breaking through the bureaucratic inertia and exposing outdated policy that blocks American competitiveness.

We need to unleash more of our nation’s spectrum for commercial use. Anything less weakens consumers at home and cedes technological dominance abroad.

'I think he's guilty of treason': Trump orders investigation into former deep-stater, 'Anonymous' official



President Donald Trump signed a pair of executive orders on Wednesday directing his administration to suspend security clearances for a pair of antagonistic officials who served in his first administration.

In addition to severing Miles Taylor and Christopher Krebs from the fount of insider federal knowledge, Trump has directed the relevant authorities in his administration to "take all appropriate action to review" the duo's activities while still government employees.

Trump characterized Krebs, the former head of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, in his order as a "significant bad-faith actor who weaponized and abused his Government" and engaged in "abusive conduct."

"Krebs' misconduct involved the censorship of disfavored speech implicating the 2020 election and COVID-19 pandemic," wrote Trump. "CISA, under Krebs' leadership, suppressed conservative viewpoints under the guise of combatting supposed disinformation, and recruited and coerced major social media platforms to further its partisan mission. CISA covertly worked to blind the American public to the controversy surrounding Hunter Biden’s laptop."

The president suggested further that while running the show at CISA, Krebs — a former Microsoft executive who has made no secret of his contempt for Trump and served as a key witness for the Democratic Jan. 6 select committee — promoted the suppression of information about "risks associated with certain voting practices" and "baselessly denied that the 2020 election was rigged and stolen."

Trump announced Krebs' termination via tweet on Nov. 17, 2020, days after CISA distributed a statement asserting both that "the November 3rd election was the most secure in American history" and that "there is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised."

Krebs was portrayed in heroic terms and as a tragic figure by Democrats and other leftists. California Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D), for instance, lauded Krebs for supposedly "speaking truth to power and rejecting Trump's constant campaign of election falsehoods."

'Identify any instances where Krebs' conduct appears to have been contrary to suitability standards for Federal employees.'

Krebs, who went on to call the president a "wannabe tyrant," responded to his termination on X, writing, "We did it right."

Trump has tasked Attorney General Pam Bondi and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem with determining whether Krebs in fact "did it right," directing them to "identify any instances where Krebs' conduct appears to have been contrary to suitability standards for Federal employees, involved the unauthorized dissemination of classified information, or contrary to the purposes and policies identified in Executive Order 14149 of January 20, 2025 (Restoring Freedom of Speech and Ending Federal Censorship)."

While Trump painted Krebs as a censorious hack potentially guilty of misonduct, he told reporters in the Oval Office Thursday that Taylor might be "guilty of treason" — a potential death-penalty offense.

Taylor served in the Trump DHS from 2017 to 2019. During that time, the former DHS chief of staff worked to undermine the democratically elected president and to "thwart parts of his agenda." Taylor admitted doing so in an anonymous piece in the New York Times titled "I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration."

In the article, Taylor suggested that he and others undermining the administration from within were the "steady state" and were committed to "steer[ing] the administration in the right direction until — one way or another — it's over."

After leaving the Trump administration, Taylor penned a book — again hiding behind the cloak of anonymity — attacking Trump. At the time, the Trump White House called the book, which is replete with disputed claims, "a work of fiction" written by a "coward."

Prior to the 2020 election, Taylor finally revealed his identity, then endorsed Joe Biden for president.

"I barely remember him. Somebody that went out and wrote a book and said all sorts of terrible things that were all lies," Trump told reporters Wednesday.

'Taylor abandoned his sacred oath.'

"He wrote a book, '[A Warning:] Anonymous,' and I always thought it was terrible," said Trump. "Now we have a chance to find out whether or not it was terrible. But it was a work of fiction."

"I think we have to do something about it," Trump added. "If that happens to other presidents, it wouldn't be sustainable for other presidents. I seem to be able to sustain, but if that happened to other presidents, it's just unfair."

— (@)

In his executive order, Trump noted, "Miles Taylor was entrusted with the solemn responsibility of Federal service, but instead prioritized his own ambition, personal notoriety, and monetary gain over fidelity to his constitutional oath."

"He illegally published classified conversations to sell his book under the pseudonym 'Anonymous,' which is full of falsehoods and fabricated stories," continued Trump. "In so doing, Taylor abandoned his sacred oath and commitment to public service by disclosing sensitive information obtained through unauthorized methods and betrayed the confidence of those with whom he served."

Trump noted further that the improper disclosure of sensitive information for the "purposes of personal enrichment and undermining our foreign policy, national security, and Government effectiveness" could "properly be characterized as treasonous and as possibly violating the Espionage Act."

Taylor tweeted Wednesday, "Dissent isn't unlawful. It certainly isn't treasonous. America is headed down a dark path."

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China’s tech infiltration poses an urgent national security risk



Totalitarian regimes cannot tolerate criticism, and China is no exception. The Chinese Communist Party’s Great Firewall is not just about restricting information within its borders — it is a deliberate effort to suppress dissent worldwide.

Now, China has a new tool for repression: DeepSeek, an AI model built using U.S. chips. Weak export controls under the Biden administration allowed China to achieve an artificial intelligence breakthrough once thought to be years away.

Competition with China isn’t a game. It’s time to stop letting Beijing gain an unfair advantage, whether through illicit means or simply by ceding ground.

Like TikTok, DeepSeek is poised to become a propaganda tool for the CCP. The model is already censoring content deemed a threat to “state power,” including references to Tiananmen Square, Hong Kong’s Umbrella Revolution, and even Winnie the Pooh. This level of content control — extending beyond information to influence minds — poses a direct and urgent threat to U.S. national security.

The Chinese Communist Party has repeatedly used technology to target U.S. interests. For years, Americans have downloaded TikTok, unaware that the app functions as Chinese spyware. This malware collects and shares user data with the CCP, tracking contacts, photos, search histories, and even keystrokes. As a result, Beijing has access to vast amounts of Americans' metadata. From a national security standpoint, this is alarming. The CCP now holds data on military installations, population centers, and critical infrastructure — essentially a detailed map with targets marked.

Even more troubling are the cybersecurity risks uncovered in DeepSeek. An Epoch Times investigation found that DeepSeek stores user data on China-based servers. One company discovered the AI model transmits information to China Mobile, a state-owned telecom giant. A separate analysis by cybersecurity firm Wiz revealed that DeepSeek suffered a major data breach, exposing chat histories, secret keys, and other sensitive information. These security failures make clear that China cannot be trusted with our advanced technology.

The threat doesn’t stop there. ByteDance, TikTok’s CCP-affiliated parent company, uses the app to promote pro-China propaganda while suppressing anti-CCP content. A Rutgers University study confirmed that TikTok amplifies content favorable to the CCP while down-ranking videos that contradict its agenda. Another CCP-linked app, RedNote, is gaining traction in the U.S. and will likely follow the same pattern. This psychological warfare must end. The U.S. cannot allow Beijing to continue exploiting American users through predatory technology.

That’s why I’ve introduced the China Technology Transfer Control Act, which would prevent China’s military from acquiring sensitive U.S. technology and intellectual property through export controls. My bill would also sanction foreign entities that sell prohibited U.S. technology to the PRC.

We can’t continue to let our foremost foreign adversary perform psychological manipulation on Americans or allow it to collect troves of our sensitive, personal information. My bill puts up guardrails to keep the CCP from acquiring increasingly advanced U.S. technologies and developing more software like DeepSeek R1.

The Biden-Harris administration did not do enough to protect America’s most sensitive technology. The CCP knows that, which is why any U.S. technology that ends up in the hands of the CCP can be weaponized against us. We must protect our advancements and ensure Americans — not the CCP — reap their benefits.

Competition with China isn’t a game. It’s time to stop letting Beijing gain an unfair advantage, whether through illicit means or simply by ceding ground. We need decisive action now to safeguard our leadership in technological innovation — not just for today but for generations to come.