Inside the ‘digital lockdown’ for US officials as Trump arrives in China
As President Donald Trump and hundreds of aides, security personnel and officials prepare to travel to China, many will leave behind one of the most basic tools of modern government:...
By Fox News · Fox News
As President Donald Trump and hundreds of aides, security personnel and officials prepare to travel to China , many will leave behind one of the most basic tools of modern government: their everyday cellphones. Instead, officials entering China often travel with stripped-down "clean" devices, temporary laptops and tightly controlled communications systems designed to minimize the risk of surveillance, hacking or data collection in what U.S. officials consider one of the world’s most aggressive cyber environments. The precautions can transform even routine tasks into logistical headaches. Messages that would normally travel instantly through encrypted apps or synced devices are instead routed through controlled channels, temporary accounts or relayed in person. CHINA-LINKED HACKING GROUP TARGETS PHONES BELONGING TO TRUMP FAMILY, BIDEN AIDES: REPORT Contacts disappear. Cloud access is limited. Some officials operate for days without their normal digital footprint. Current and former officials say the measures reflect a longstanding assumption inside the U.S. government: anything brought into China — phones, laptops, tablets or even hotel Wi-Fi connections — should be treated as potentially compromised. "China is a mass surveillance state," said Bill Gage, a former Secret Service special agent and now director of executive protection for Safehaven Security Group. "Briefings for U.S. officials begin well before the president arrives, and they make clear that everything is monitored." "We always tell people to assume everything you say and do — both in person and digitally — could be monitored," said Theresa Payton, former White House chief information officer and CEO of cybersecurity firm Fortalice Solutions. "And to conduct themselves accordingly." Ahead of Trump’s high-stakes meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping , the digital precautions underscore the broader mistrust shaping the relationship between Washington and Beijing, where cybersecurity, espionage and s…