Microsoft has acknowledged that it has tools in place to "take action" against Windows Phone 7 malware or offending apps.
This capability, which is also present in Google Android and Apple iOS, essentially lets Microsoft, via it's Zune-based Windows Phone 7 Marketplace, unpublish an app or in some cases remove it from a phone if the software was deemed a dangerous-enough security threat. It was dubbed a "kill switch" by UK-based PCPro.com, which broke the story this week, based on an interview with Todd Biggs, director of product management for Windows Phone Marketplace.
Microsoft has created a highly automated app testing and certification process for Windows Phone 7 apps, and Briggs made clear the company expects that system to flag most instances of problematic code. But, he says, “Market Place is a complex operation and we need to have the capability for dealing with different situations.”
As quoted in PCPro, Briggs clearly suggested the most common method of deactivating malware on the phone would be to simply yank the app from the online catalog. "[B]ut if it was very rogue then we could remove applications from handsets - we don't want things to go that far, but we could,” Biggs says.
That would most likely be done when the phone automatically and periodically checks into the catalog for downloads and updates.
The first Windows Phone 7 handsets for the U.S. become available Monday, November 8, on AT&T and T-Mobile.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
The "kill switch" for Windows Phone 7 apps
John Cox
Back to Microsoft Subnet
John Cox on Wireless
Microsoft has acknowledged that it has tools in place to "take action" against Windows Phone 7 malware or offending apps.
This capability, which is also present in Google Android and Apple iOS, essentially lets Microsoft, via it's Zune-based Windows Phone 7 Marketplace, unpublish an app or in some cases remove it from a phone if the software was deemed a dangerous-enough security threat. It was dubbed a "kill switch" by UK-based PCPro.com, which broke the story this week, based on an interview with Todd Biggs, director of product management for Windows Phone Marketplace.
Microsoft has created a highly automated app testing and certification process for Windows Phone 7 apps, and Briggs made clear the company expects that system to flag most instances of problematic code. But, he says, “Market Place is a complex operation and we need to have the capability for dealing with different situations.”
As quoted in PCPro, Briggs clearly suggested the most common method of deactivating malware on the phone would be to simply yank the app from the online catalog. "[B]ut if it was very rogue then we could remove applications from handsets - we don't want things to go that far, but we could,” Biggs says.
That would most likely be done when the phone automatically and periodically checks into the catalog for downloads and updates.
The first Windows Phone 7 handsets for the U.S. become available Monday, November 8, on AT&T and T-Mobile.
Back to Microsoft Subnet
John Cox on Wireless
Microsoft has acknowledged that it has tools in place to "take action" against Windows Phone 7 malware or offending apps.
This capability, which is also present in Google Android and Apple iOS, essentially lets Microsoft, via it's Zune-based Windows Phone 7 Marketplace, unpublish an app or in some cases remove it from a phone if the software was deemed a dangerous-enough security threat. It was dubbed a "kill switch" by UK-based PCPro.com, which broke the story this week, based on an interview with Todd Biggs, director of product management for Windows Phone Marketplace.
Microsoft has created a highly automated app testing and certification process for Windows Phone 7 apps, and Briggs made clear the company expects that system to flag most instances of problematic code. But, he says, “Market Place is a complex operation and we need to have the capability for dealing with different situations.”
As quoted in PCPro, Briggs clearly suggested the most common method of deactivating malware on the phone would be to simply yank the app from the online catalog. "[B]ut if it was very rogue then we could remove applications from handsets - we don't want things to go that far, but we could,” Biggs says.
That would most likely be done when the phone automatically and periodically checks into the catalog for downloads and updates.
The first Windows Phone 7 handsets for the U.S. become available Monday, November 8, on AT&T and T-Mobile.
Microsoft warns of new Zero-day attack affecting Internet Explorer 6, 7, 8
Today Microsoft released Security Advisory 2458511 to warn Internet Explorer users of a new zero-day attack that Microsoft has seen in the wild. It affects versions 6, 7, and 8, although Microsoft says that the default installations of IE8 make that version of the browser harder to exploit.
UPDATED: Security researchers at Symantec reported the attack to Microsoft and earlier today posted details. I'll summarize. Attackers figured out specific exploits for older versions of IE, 6 and 7 specifically. They hacked otherwise innocent Web servers and added a page with malware. They sent e-mails to specific individuals within various organizations. When those individuals visited the page, the malware told them which version of IE they were using. If it was not IE 6 or 7, the victim saw a blank Web page. If it was, the nasty page downloaded a Trojan that allowed the hacker to install commands disguised as .gif files. The victim need do nothing but visit the Web page. The owners of identified Web sites hosting the malware pages have been contacted and the files removed, but there's no telling how many more are still out there.
It is unlikely that a patch will be available by next week's Patch Tuesday, says Jason Miller, data and security team leader, Shavlik Technologies, Minneapolis, MN. However Miller says if Microsoft sees an uptick in this attack, he would expect Microsoft to release an out-of-band patch.
Microsoft explains:
"The vulnerability exists due to an invalid flag reference within Internet Explorer. It is possible under certain conditions for the invalid flag reference to be accessed after an object is deleted. In a specially-crafted attack, in attempting to access a freed object, Internet Explorer can be caused to allow remote code execution. At this time, we are aware of targeted attacks attempting to use this vulnerability."
IE 8 is less vulnerable due to "defense in depth protections" from its Data Execution Prevention (DEP) feature, which Microsoft says is enabled by default in Internet Explorer 8 on all supported Windows platforms. While Microsoft PR says that " the impact of this vulnerability is extremely limited and we are not aware of any affected customers," the security advisory also notes that black hats are trying to take advantage of the hole in the wild. Its says, "At this time, we are aware of targeted attacks attempting to use this vulnerability."
Microsoft says that IE 9 isn't affected, but remember IE 9 isn't available for XP users, not even those who are using XP SP3, which Microsoft is still supporting.
While no patch is available yet, Microsoft has offered several workarounds including:
* Override the Web site CSS style with a user-defined CSS (that's not going to make a lot of Web developer's happy).
* Deploy Microsoft's Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit, is a utility that Microsoft says helps prevent vulnerabilities in software from successfully being exploited. For more information
* IE7 users are urged to enable the Data Execution Prevention (DEP) feature, although this may cause conflicts with some browser extensions.
* Read e-mails in plan text
* Set Internet and Local intranet security zone settings to "High" to block ActiveX Controls and Active Scripting in these zones
UPDATED: Security researchers at Symantec reported the attack to Microsoft and earlier today posted details. I'll summarize. Attackers figured out specific exploits for older versions of IE, 6 and 7 specifically. They hacked otherwise innocent Web servers and added a page with malware. They sent e-mails to specific individuals within various organizations. When those individuals visited the page, the malware told them which version of IE they were using. If it was not IE 6 or 7, the victim saw a blank Web page. If it was, the nasty page downloaded a Trojan that allowed the hacker to install commands disguised as .gif files. The victim need do nothing but visit the Web page. The owners of identified Web sites hosting the malware pages have been contacted and the files removed, but there's no telling how many more are still out there.
It is unlikely that a patch will be available by next week's Patch Tuesday, says Jason Miller, data and security team leader, Shavlik Technologies, Minneapolis, MN. However Miller says if Microsoft sees an uptick in this attack, he would expect Microsoft to release an out-of-band patch.
Microsoft explains:
"The vulnerability exists due to an invalid flag reference within Internet Explorer. It is possible under certain conditions for the invalid flag reference to be accessed after an object is deleted. In a specially-crafted attack, in attempting to access a freed object, Internet Explorer can be caused to allow remote code execution. At this time, we are aware of targeted attacks attempting to use this vulnerability."
IE 8 is less vulnerable due to "defense in depth protections" from its Data Execution Prevention (DEP) feature, which Microsoft says is enabled by default in Internet Explorer 8 on all supported Windows platforms. While Microsoft PR says that " the impact of this vulnerability is extremely limited and we are not aware of any affected customers," the security advisory also notes that black hats are trying to take advantage of the hole in the wild. Its says, "At this time, we are aware of targeted attacks attempting to use this vulnerability."
Microsoft says that IE 9 isn't affected, but remember IE 9 isn't available for XP users, not even those who are using XP SP3, which Microsoft is still supporting.
While no patch is available yet, Microsoft has offered several workarounds including:
* Override the Web site CSS style with a user-defined CSS (that's not going to make a lot of Web developer's happy).
* Deploy Microsoft's Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit, is a utility that Microsoft says helps prevent vulnerabilities in software from successfully being exploited. For more information
* IE7 users are urged to enable the Data Execution Prevention (DEP) feature, although this may cause conflicts with some browser extensions.
* Read e-mails in plan text
* Set Internet and Local intranet security zone settings to "High" to block ActiveX Controls and Active Scripting in these zones
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Microsoft yanks Outlook 2007 update
Microsoft last week pulled an update for Outlook 2007 issued just two days earlier, citing connection and performance problems for the unusual move.
The update was issued mid-day on Dec. 14 as part of the monthly Patch Tuesday. Within hours, users reported trouble with retrieving e-mail and major delays when switching folders.
"This latest update results in Outlook 2007 being very slow in changing folders and the archiving functionality appears to have been removed," said someone identified as "alspar" on a Microsoft support forum early Wednesday morning. "Is this an error or by design?"
Others said they couldn't send or receive e-mail, including Gmail messages, through Outlook after installing the update.
Ironically, Microsoft had billed the update, which didn't patch any security vulnerabilities, as one that contained "stability and performance improvements."
By Thursday, support forum moderators were telling users to uninstall the update.
Microsoft made that official late Friday in a post on the Outlook team's blog . "We have discovered several issues with the update and ... as of December 16, this Outlook 2007 update has been removed from Microsoft Update,"
According to Microsoft, the Tuesday update contained three flaws related to Secure Password Authentication (SPA), a Microsoft protocol used to authenticate mail clients like Outlook to a mail server; sluggish folder switching when Outlook wasn't configured to grab mail from an Exchange server; and a broken AutoArchive feature.
The update was issued mid-day on Dec. 14 as part of the monthly Patch Tuesday. Within hours, users reported trouble with retrieving e-mail and major delays when switching folders.
"This latest update results in Outlook 2007 being very slow in changing folders and the archiving functionality appears to have been removed," said someone identified as "alspar" on a Microsoft support forum early Wednesday morning. "Is this an error or by design?"
Others said they couldn't send or receive e-mail, including Gmail messages, through Outlook after installing the update.
Ironically, Microsoft had billed the update, which didn't patch any security vulnerabilities, as one that contained "stability and performance improvements."
By Thursday, support forum moderators were telling users to uninstall the update.
Microsoft made that official late Friday in a post on the Outlook team's blog . "We have discovered several issues with the update and ... as of December 16, this Outlook 2007 update has been removed from Microsoft Update,"
According to Microsoft, the Tuesday update contained three flaws related to Secure Password Authentication (SPA), a Microsoft protocol used to authenticate mail clients like Outlook to a mail server; sluggish folder switching when Outlook wasn't configured to grab mail from an Exchange server; and a broken AutoArchive feature.
The problem with Windows 7 tablets: they still run Windows
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and cohorts drew some major applause at CES by showing off new tablets running Windows 7, and for good reason. New devices from Acer, ASUS and Samsung are sleek and have innovative form factors, for example dual screens and slide-out keyboards. But the advances can largely be attributed to the good work of Microsoft's hardware partners. The problem with Windows tablets is that they still run Windows.
That's not to say Windows can't be adapted to the tablet age. Microsoft would argue that the devices shown off at CES this week prove Windows 7 is tablet-ready, but analysts aren't necessarily ready to agree.
The issue, says Aberdeen Group research analyst Andrew Borg, is that Microsoft is still using pre-iPad thinking.
Microsoft bashes Apple at CES while previewing next-gen Windows
Microsoft's comfort zone is with what we might call Tablets 1.0, which were based on stylus and 'digital-ink' interaction, and used a unipoint (not multi-touch) touchscreen interface," Borg wrote during the course of a few e-mails we've exchanged since Ballmer's keynote last night. "Apple's iOS replaced that metaphor once and forever (call it Tablets 2.0) with gesture-based interaction on a multi-touch touchscreen interface. It's fundamentally a different use case: the first assumes the presence of a keyboard along with the stylus which simply replaces the mouse or pointer; the second doesn't replicate the traditional computer desktop or laptop metaphor, it replaces it."
Let's give credit to Microsoft where credit is due. There was a real "wow factor" when they demonstarted prototypes of tablets coming out within the next few months, and it shows that Microsoft is working closely with hardware partners to get some cool devices into the hands of consumers. Samsung, for example, is coming out with Windows 7-based tablets that have a slide-out keyboard, and ASUS has a standalone tablet with a Bluetooth keyboard. The ASUS device will use a combination of stylus and finger-based touch, and will be able to tell the difference between the stylus and your hand.
Most visually striking, in my opinion, is the Acer ICONIA, which has two 14-inch touch screens that can both be used for Web surfing and all the other stuff you'd do with a Windows tablet. But one of its coolest features is also a reminder that Windows 7 is still much more a desktop than a tablet operating system.
That's not to say Windows can't be adapted to the tablet age. Microsoft would argue that the devices shown off at CES this week prove Windows 7 is tablet-ready, but analysts aren't necessarily ready to agree.
The issue, says Aberdeen Group research analyst Andrew Borg, is that Microsoft is still using pre-iPad thinking.
Microsoft bashes Apple at CES while previewing next-gen Windows
Microsoft's comfort zone is with what we might call Tablets 1.0, which were based on stylus and 'digital-ink' interaction, and used a unipoint (not multi-touch) touchscreen interface," Borg wrote during the course of a few e-mails we've exchanged since Ballmer's keynote last night. "Apple's iOS replaced that metaphor once and forever (call it Tablets 2.0) with gesture-based interaction on a multi-touch touchscreen interface. It's fundamentally a different use case: the first assumes the presence of a keyboard along with the stylus which simply replaces the mouse or pointer; the second doesn't replicate the traditional computer desktop or laptop metaphor, it replaces it."
Let's give credit to Microsoft where credit is due. There was a real "wow factor" when they demonstarted prototypes of tablets coming out within the next few months, and it shows that Microsoft is working closely with hardware partners to get some cool devices into the hands of consumers. Samsung, for example, is coming out with Windows 7-based tablets that have a slide-out keyboard, and ASUS has a standalone tablet with a Bluetooth keyboard. The ASUS device will use a combination of stylus and finger-based touch, and will be able to tell the difference between the stylus and your hand.
Most visually striking, in my opinion, is the Acer ICONIA, which has two 14-inch touch screens that can both be used for Web surfing and all the other stuff you'd do with a Windows tablet. But one of its coolest features is also a reminder that Windows 7 is still much more a desktop than a tablet operating system.
Yahoo IPv6 upgrade could shut out 1 million Internet users
ahoo is forging ahead with a move to IPv6 on its main Web site by year-end despite worries that up to 1 million Internet users may be unable to access it initially.
Yahoo's massive engineering effort to support IPv6 -- the long-anticipated upgrade to the Internet's main communications protocol -- could at first shut out potential www.yahoo.com users due to what the company and others call "IPv6 brokenness.
Yahoo has been one of the most vocal Internet companies to express concern about industry estimates that 0.05% of Internet users will be unable to access Web sites that support both IPv6 and the current standard, IPv4.
IPv6 experts say some Internet users will experience slowdowns or have trouble connecting to IPv6-enabled Web sites because they have misconfigured or misbehaving network equipment, primarily in their home networks. Corporate users also could experience IPv6 brokenness because of faulty firewall settings.
The Internet Society's estimate that 0.05% of users will be unable to reach IPv6-enabled content may seem miniscule, but it actually represents around 1 million Internet users based on estimates that 2 billion people access the Internet.
"The numbers are going to vary from site to site, but it's definitely very critical that everybody understands that when they do make themselves available through both IPv4 and IPv6 at the same time what impact there will be on a small percentage of users," says Jason Fesler, an IPv6 architect with Yahoo.
Fesler explained that for end users with IPv6 brokenness, Web sites that support IPv6 and IPv4 simultaneously in what's called dual-stack mode will appear to be suffering from an outage.
"A certain number of users do have IPv6 on their systems, but they have it configured in such a way that their system believes they have a working IPv6 Internet connection when in reality they don't. Or their Web site browser will prefer IPv6," Fesler explains. "This will result in timeouts that can be anywhere from 5 seconds to several minutes. From an end user's point of view, the first major Web site that goes dual-stack is going to appear broken while other Web sites will appear to be up."
Yahoo's massive engineering effort to support IPv6 -- the long-anticipated upgrade to the Internet's main communications protocol -- could at first shut out potential www.yahoo.com users due to what the company and others call "IPv6 brokenness.
Yahoo has been one of the most vocal Internet companies to express concern about industry estimates that 0.05% of Internet users will be unable to access Web sites that support both IPv6 and the current standard, IPv4.
IPv6 experts say some Internet users will experience slowdowns or have trouble connecting to IPv6-enabled Web sites because they have misconfigured or misbehaving network equipment, primarily in their home networks. Corporate users also could experience IPv6 brokenness because of faulty firewall settings.
The Internet Society's estimate that 0.05% of users will be unable to reach IPv6-enabled content may seem miniscule, but it actually represents around 1 million Internet users based on estimates that 2 billion people access the Internet.
"The numbers are going to vary from site to site, but it's definitely very critical that everybody understands that when they do make themselves available through both IPv4 and IPv6 at the same time what impact there will be on a small percentage of users," says Jason Fesler, an IPv6 architect with Yahoo.
Fesler explained that for end users with IPv6 brokenness, Web sites that support IPv6 and IPv4 simultaneously in what's called dual-stack mode will appear to be suffering from an outage.
"A certain number of users do have IPv6 on their systems, but they have it configured in such a way that their system believes they have a working IPv6 Internet connection when in reality they don't. Or their Web site browser will prefer IPv6," Fesler explains. "This will result in timeouts that can be anywhere from 5 seconds to several minutes. From an end user's point of view, the first major Web site that goes dual-stack is going to appear broken while other Web sites will appear to be up."
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
WikiLeaks: China was behind Google hack
he much publicized attack on Google’s computer systems in China earlier this year was directed by China’s Politburo, according to classified U.S. government documents released by the Web site WikiLeaks.org and reported today by several news organizations.
“The Google hacking was part of a coordinated campaign of computer sabotage carried out by government operatives, private security experts and Internet outlaws recruited by the Chinese government,” The New York Times reported.
This latest WikiLeaks release included thousands of communications between U.S. diplomats, their foreign counterparts and the U.S. State Department. A Chinese contact told the American Embassy in Beijing in January about the Politburo’s involvement in the Google case, the Times noted. This is additional detail not previously revealed about the role of the Chinese government, which has denied involvement.
In all, 34 companies were identified as having their computer systems hacked. Google reacted to the hacking by refusing to continue to censor Google search results in China on behalf of the government and directed visitors to its site that is based in Hong Kong. Google later backed down and had its Internet Content Provider license renewed by China. Visiting China.cn does not redirect to the Hong Kong site, though there is a link to Hong Kong on the Chinese Google site. Google has also restricted searches on Google.cn to " music, products and translation," according to PC World.
Computer security experts said at the time that one of the ways hackers were able to gain access to the Gmail accounts of human rights activists was by exploiting a vulnerability in Microsoft Windows computers, particularly in unpatched versions of the Internet Explorer 6 Web browser.
An additional review of diplomatic cables revealed that Chinese hackers have broken into American government computers and those of Western allies, the Dalai Lama and American businesses since 2002, according to the Times.
I have reported previously on this blog about the suspicions of cyber security experts of the duplicity of government officials in various countries, mainly China and Russia, in supporting or even just condoning cyber crime. Today we’ve got more proof of institutional involvement. The Poliburo is the governing body of the Communist Party of China.
“The Google hacking was part of a coordinated campaign of computer sabotage carried out by government operatives, private security experts and Internet outlaws recruited by the Chinese government,” The New York Times reported.
This latest WikiLeaks release included thousands of communications between U.S. diplomats, their foreign counterparts and the U.S. State Department. A Chinese contact told the American Embassy in Beijing in January about the Politburo’s involvement in the Google case, the Times noted. This is additional detail not previously revealed about the role of the Chinese government, which has denied involvement.
In all, 34 companies were identified as having their computer systems hacked. Google reacted to the hacking by refusing to continue to censor Google search results in China on behalf of the government and directed visitors to its site that is based in Hong Kong. Google later backed down and had its Internet Content Provider license renewed by China. Visiting China.cn does not redirect to the Hong Kong site, though there is a link to Hong Kong on the Chinese Google site. Google has also restricted searches on Google.cn to " music, products and translation," according to PC World.
Computer security experts said at the time that one of the ways hackers were able to gain access to the Gmail accounts of human rights activists was by exploiting a vulnerability in Microsoft Windows computers, particularly in unpatched versions of the Internet Explorer 6 Web browser.
An additional review of diplomatic cables revealed that Chinese hackers have broken into American government computers and those of Western allies, the Dalai Lama and American businesses since 2002, according to the Times.
I have reported previously on this blog about the suspicions of cyber security experts of the duplicity of government officials in various countries, mainly China and Russia, in supporting or even just condoning cyber crime. Today we’ve got more proof of institutional involvement. The Poliburo is the governing body of the Communist Party of China.
U.S. tech lead at risk, says Obama's top scientist
U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, the only member of President Barack Obama's cabinet with a degree in a hard science, believes the U.S. is at risk of losing its leadership in technology as the nation's competitiveness deteriorates.
Chu, co-winner of the Nobel Prize in physics in 1997, used statistics and blunt language in a speech at the National Press Club in Washington Monday to point out that the U.S. lead in technology is declining and is in need of turnaround. He characterized the current situation as a " Sputnik moment " for the U.S., particularly in the area of clean energy development.
Chu illustrated his concern, in part, by describing the decline of the U.S. share of worldwide high technology manufacturing. The U.S. hit a peak in 1998 by capturing about 25% of the world's technology export market. The U.S. share has declined steadily since then to the current 12% to 13% of the global market.
Chart: Percentage of global high-tech exports from the U.S., EU and China.
The U.S. has developed "the greatest innovation machine" in the world, but Chu said that "today this leadership is at risk - we are no longer leaders in manufacturing, but more startling we are no longer the leaders in high technology manufacturing."
China has seen its global share of tech export market increase from 6% in 1995 to 20% in 2008, Chu said.
TechAmerica, an industry group, reported Tuesday that the overall value of tech exports fell 16% in 2009, from $223 billion in 2008 to $188 billion.
Josh James, vice president for research and industry analysis at TechAmerica, attributed last year's decline to the economic downturn. Otherwise, tech exports in the U.S. exports have been increasing. From 2003 to 2009, the value of U.S. tech exports increased by 13%, he said.
The U.S. overall increase in tech exports is due to rising global demand. TechAmerica produces the annual export report, in part, to help make a case that Congress should pass pending free trade agreements, this year with Columbia, Panama and South Korea.
High-tech exports account for nearly 1 million jobs in the U.S, he added.
Chu cited the role of some of U.S. technology developments, such as transistor, integrated circuit, GPS and the Internet, for the "wonderful things" they did to create wealth in the United States in past years. Similarly, Chu sees development of alternative energy vehicles, renewable energy, high speed rail and supercomputing, as important to maintaining U.S. technology leads.
Chu sought to dispel the idea that China is rapidly expanding its overall share of worldwide trade solely due to low cost labor.
He noted that China is expanding research and development efforts, citing Applied Materials opening last year of a 400,000 square foot solar research and development center there as an example.
The U.S. "still has the opportunity to lead in a world" in producing inexpensive, carbon free technology, and in doing so create a way to "secure our future prosperity," said Chu. "But I think time is running out." Chu believed the U.S. can maintain its leadership with investment and government policies that help drive these industries.
Chu, co-winner of the Nobel Prize in physics in 1997, used statistics and blunt language in a speech at the National Press Club in Washington Monday to point out that the U.S. lead in technology is declining and is in need of turnaround. He characterized the current situation as a " Sputnik moment " for the U.S., particularly in the area of clean energy development.
Chu illustrated his concern, in part, by describing the decline of the U.S. share of worldwide high technology manufacturing. The U.S. hit a peak in 1998 by capturing about 25% of the world's technology export market. The U.S. share has declined steadily since then to the current 12% to 13% of the global market.
Chart: Percentage of global high-tech exports from the U.S., EU and China.
The U.S. has developed "the greatest innovation machine" in the world, but Chu said that "today this leadership is at risk - we are no longer leaders in manufacturing, but more startling we are no longer the leaders in high technology manufacturing."
China has seen its global share of tech export market increase from 6% in 1995 to 20% in 2008, Chu said.
TechAmerica, an industry group, reported Tuesday that the overall value of tech exports fell 16% in 2009, from $223 billion in 2008 to $188 billion.
Josh James, vice president for research and industry analysis at TechAmerica, attributed last year's decline to the economic downturn. Otherwise, tech exports in the U.S. exports have been increasing. From 2003 to 2009, the value of U.S. tech exports increased by 13%, he said.
The U.S. overall increase in tech exports is due to rising global demand. TechAmerica produces the annual export report, in part, to help make a case that Congress should pass pending free trade agreements, this year with Columbia, Panama and South Korea.
High-tech exports account for nearly 1 million jobs in the U.S, he added.
Chu cited the role of some of U.S. technology developments, such as transistor, integrated circuit, GPS and the Internet, for the "wonderful things" they did to create wealth in the United States in past years. Similarly, Chu sees development of alternative energy vehicles, renewable energy, high speed rail and supercomputing, as important to maintaining U.S. technology leads.
Chu sought to dispel the idea that China is rapidly expanding its overall share of worldwide trade solely due to low cost labor.
He noted that China is expanding research and development efforts, citing Applied Materials opening last year of a 400,000 square foot solar research and development center there as an example.
The U.S. "still has the opportunity to lead in a world" in producing inexpensive, carbon free technology, and in doing so create a way to "secure our future prosperity," said Chu. "But I think time is running out." Chu believed the U.S. can maintain its leadership with investment and government policies that help drive these industries.
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