Expensive Director Easterly and Principal Deputy Underneath Secretary Passarelli:
We write to request that you just declassify sure info regarding potential nationwide safety dangers posed by unmanned plane programs (UAS or “drones”) which have been produced, manufactured, or assembled within the Folks’s Republic of China (PRC), together with these made by Da Jiang Improvements (DJI) or Autel Robotics (Autel). It has come to our consideration that there are findings from Sandia Nationwide Laboratories (SNL) pertaining to nationwide safety dangers related to drones which have been produced, manufactured, or assembled within the PRC.
Moreover, on January 17, 2024, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Safety Company (CISA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) issued a joint advisory elevating consciousness of the numerous dangers posed by PRC-made drones to our nation’s vital infrastructure and U.S. nationwide safety. Alarmingly, the advisory states that, “”using Chinese language-manufactured UAS in vital infrastructure operations dangers exposing delicate info to PRC authorities, jeopardizing U.S. nationwide safety, financial safety, and public well being and security.” The findings of CISA’s and the FBI’s evaluation had been apparently regarding sufficient to warrant the publication and dissemination of this advisory to state, native, tribal, and territorial companions.
It’s our understanding that the SNL’s evaluation doesn’t implicate any delicate intelligence sources or strategies that might in any other case warning towards declassification. In any case, there are specific procedures in place for declassifying info—whereas safeguarding delicate intelligence sources and strategies—when conserving info labeled is outweighed by the general public curiosity,4 as is the case right here. We subsequently ask that the related Government Department departments or businesses, together with CISA and the Division of Power (DOE), declassify these and all associated findings instantly in order that lawmakers and the American public can absolutely perceive the threats posed by drones which have been produced, manufactured, or assembled within the PRC, together with these made by DJI and Autel.
DJI and Autel are UAS expertise firms headquartered in Shenzhen, China, that management almost 90 p.c of the worldwide UAS market. DJI drones, specifically, are well-known for his or her high quality, affordability, and superior options, making them a preferred selection for American hobbyists, companies, in addition to State, native, tribal, and territorial (SLTT) regulation enforcement businesses. In recent times, DJI has obtained essentially the most consideration from Congress given the corporate’s dominant market share. Nevertheless, Autel’s rising footprint in america is equally alarming.
DJI and Autel’s business relationship with 1000’s of SLTT regulation enforcement businesses in america provides a layer of complexity to this situation. The widespread adoption of PRC drones by SLTT regulation enforcement businesses could inadvertently expose them to cybersecurity dangers that aren’t effectively understood, whereas concurrently undermining our nationwide safety. A number of federal businesses have warned towards or banned the procurement of sure UAS originating within the PRC, as a result of dangers they pose.7 Nevertheless, the main points of those UAS threats stay labeled.
For instance, in August 2017, Homeland Safety Investigations (HSI) —the investigative element of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement—issued an alert warning that DJI drones are “[l]ikely offering U.S. vital infrastructure and regulation enforcement knowledge to [the] Chinese language authorities.” This bulletin “assesse[d] with excessive confidence [DJI] is selectively focusing on authorities and privately owned entities inside [infrastructure and law Cong. R. Serv. (IFI2183), Procedures for Declassifying Intelligence of Public Interest (August 10, 2023), enforcement sectors] to develop its capacity to gather and exploit delicate U.S. knowledge.” Additional, the bulletin warned that DJI-established purposes, when used with their UAS {hardware}, gather GPS places and pictures taken by the gadget, register facial recognition knowledge even when
the system is off, and add info to cloud storage positioned in Taiwan and Hong Kong, to
which our foremost adversary, the Chinese language Communist Occasion, nearly actually has entry.10 The
bulletin additional states {that a} “international authorities with entry to this info might simply
coordinate bodily or cyber assaults towards vital websites.”
Concurrently, in August 2017, the Division of the Military launched a memorandum ordering a grounding on using DJI purposes and merchandise, citing an “elevated consciousness of cyber vulnerabilities related to DJI merchandise.”12 The next yr, in Might 2018, the Division of Protection (DoD) halted all procurement of commercial-off-the-shelf drones.
Might 2019, CISA issued an an identical warning that Chinese language-made drones pose a “potential danger of
a corporation’s info.”14 Additional, in January 2020, following a assessment of its drone fleet,
the Inside Division briefly retired non-emergency drones. In response to then Secretary of the Inside Bernhardt’s order, “info collected throughout UAS missions has the potential to be beneficial to international entities, organizations, and governments.”
In December 2020, the Division of Commerce added DJI to its Entity Listing, which prohibits U.S.-based companies from exporting expertise to firms designated as a nationwide safety concern. In July 2021, DoD reiterated its place Da Jiang Improvements pose potential threats to nationwide safety.”18 Later, in December 2021, the Treasury Division added DJI to its Chinese language-Navy Industrial Advanced listing over experiences that its UAS are utilized by Xinjiang Public Sector Bureau to surveil China’s Uyghur Muslim
inhabitants.
In gentle of those vital points, there’s a sturdy public curiosity in understanding the threats posed by PRC-manufactured drones. As a number of federal businesses and departments have taken appreciable motion based mostly on labeled info, it’s effectively previous time that Congress, SLTT regulation enforcement businesses, and the American public obtain solutions to questions regarding PRC drones which have remained excellent for a number of years.
Moreover, we request that CISA and DOE present Committee employees with a briefing
about this request no later than July 2, 2024.
Thanks in your consideration to this essential matter.
Sincerely,
Mark E. Inexperienced, MD
Cathy McMorris Rodgers
Chairman Chair
Committee on Homeland Safety Committee on Power and Commerce
