Does Chinese software make you nervous?

[bononos]

This question has popped up here and there over the years for individual software programs and I noticed that there were responses from new members who just signed up.

I prefer not to install and use free Chinese apps if I have a choice since I'm wary of embedded spyware by their state security services. Does anyone think the same way? I've listed some below which are considered to be superior in their category and I wonder if they had state support to get to that level of quality.

Disk partition software, more features compared to free Macrium/Acronis.
- AOMEI partition assistant
- Easus data recovery, backup

- Haozip - This free compression software supports many formats, has good performance, extra features and supported rar5 before other popular freeware like peazip. Not sure if its trialware or freeware (40days only?).

- wechat - freeware popular alternative to (nearly free) whatsapp. It censored posts from the recent HK protests and blocked public accounts (sort of like whatsapp group account) created specially for the HK protest. Relatively large and bloated compared to whatsapp, so lots of hiding spots for malware.

Embedding some extra bits in an antivirus would be a neat addition since the host program would provide cover for the malicious bits.
- Qihoo360
- CM Security Antivirus
These 2 are very popular and well rated for android. The Qihoo360 also tested well under windows. CM has a whole free suite for android phones

Chinese browsers are not as popular outside of China. qq, ucbrowser, maxthon are China owned and quite popular. Maxthon tested well in my experience. UC has become India's top mobile browser because of imported Chinese phones and caused some security related questions to be asked.
http://articles.economictimes.india...41726943_1_smartphone-market-zte-chinese-apps
http://securehackers.blogspot.com/2012/05/secrets-of-free-uc-web-mobile-browser.html

 

[lxskllr]

Proprietary software makes me nervous; Chinese proprietary software more so. They're close to last on my list for sourcing software.

 

[Berliner]

Does Chinese software make you nervous?

Not more than American software.

 

[corkyg]

Not really. I pay no attention to them. I usually avoid most freeware. They tend to be laden with PUPs and PUMs.

 

[bononos]

Not really. I pay no attention to them. I usually avoid most freeware. They tend to be laden with PUPs and PUMs.

Some freeware like AV and chat programs are pretty good even with ads.
The less competitive US telecoms sector has retarded the use of chat apps that are more popular elsewhere.

 

[WelshBloke]

The Chinese government needs to hack your PC because...

 

[lxskllr]

The Chinese government needs to hack your PC because...

I dunno, why?

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2413696

 

[bononos]

The Chinese government needs to hack your PC because...

The government has no direct reason to hack my pc, the issue is about being open to vulnerabilities which can be exploited by ordinary hackers. Or possibly by govt hackers in their 'after hours' to supplement their incomes.

Although I brought the issue of possible state involvement in some free software, the risk of non-state hackers is also there.

 

[maddogchen]

Of course! those shady people.

But the US government seems to trust them as they allow electronic components that go into weapon systems to be made in China. So China makes them with a few added touches to help spy or sabotage them.

So why shouldn't you trust them?

 

[John Connor]

I have used AOMEI Backuper before and have scanned my computer with all kinds of scanners and nothing was found. I even used Herdprotect and detekt which finds government spyware.

I don't trust China and block the whole country from accessing my blog and forum. I run a Teamspeak server and have peerblock that blocks China as well. Here, I wrote about this in my blog. http://blog.systechforum.net/?p=82

 

[bononos]

Of course! those shady people.

But the US government seems to trust them as they allow electronic components that go into weapon systems to be made in China. So China makes them with a few added touches to help spy or sabotage them.

So why shouldn't you trust them?

Them who? Nothing in my posts was meant to point the finger at the entire Chinese race, just that the Chinese govt has a huge budget and state apparatus for black projects like cyberspying and internal repression. I gave a well known example of wechat censorship but there is legit suspicion that the app has a backdoor which allows spying on chats after an activist reported police had first hand knowledge on what she typed.

From what I can gather about your assertion about Chinese electronics in US weapons, the item in question are rare earth magnets and not ICs. But thats beside the point.

 

[maddogchen]

From what I can gather about your assertion about Chinese electronics in US weapons, the item in question are rare earth magnets and not ICs. But thats beside the point.

China is the largest source of counterfeit electronic parts in the world and a surprising number of those components make it into US military equipment. They've documented over a million counterfeit electronic parts from 2009-2012. The Pentagon and U.S.-based defense contractors that rely on hundreds of unvetted independent distributors. Many of these distributors have factories in China that take discarded electronic parts from all over the world, remove any identifying marks, wash and refurbish them, and then resell them as brand-new.

But anyway you shouldn't just watch out for Chinese software but hardware too.
They talk about finding Chinese made Android phones with issues in a recent article here:
http://www.tomsguide.com/us/chinese-android-phones-backdoor,news-20032.html

 

[Hooobi]

Was just about to comment on the hardware as well. There's likely not an electronic device I own that doesn't include Chinese components. I prefer my devices not include factory-installed backdoors but pretty much assume that it might all be compromised. Then again, just the basic OS, firmware, and drivers that most of us use will likely present plenty of attack surface.

I doubt I merit any attention from a nation-state, but am reasonably concerned that other miscreants can find/exploit the weaknesses and gain access to private data, if such thing still exists.