Hayden described the phenomenon of compromised computer hardware – namely,
chips that have hidden "back doors" inserted into them at the design or
manufacturing stage – as "the problem from hell". And, he went on,
"frankly, it's not a problem that can be solved"
..
.a back door that would allow secret remote access over the
internet.
And – here's the really scary bit – the secret entrance couldn't even
be closed by switching off the computer's hard disk or reinstalling its
operating system.
The reason this is so scary is because virtually
every bit of kit that runs the internet – the machine on which you
compose your emails, the tablet or smartphone with which you browse the
net, the routers that pass on the data packets that comprise your email
or your web search, everything – is a computer. So the thought that all
this stuff might covertly be compromised in ways that are impossible to
detect is terrifying. It's this fear that underpins
American (and British) reservations about network products made by the Chinese company
Huawei
– the suspicions (vehemently denied by Huawei, of course) that the kit
has secret back doors installed in it to facilitate the Chinese's
cyber-army's penetration of western networks."
READ MORE HERE...
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/oct/13/us-scared-back-door-routes-computers-snowden-nsa
