The recent arrest of a Chinese national for stealing research data from Houston's MD Anderson Cancer Center is exposing an overlooked national security vulnerability. The 35-year-old man worked for the past three years at MD Anderson on a research scholar visa, but was caught trying to return to China with sensitive medical data. The man is now facing multiple charges, and MD Anderson says they are "working with relevant authorities" to address this matter.
This attempted espionage right on our doorstep should be a wake-up call for our academic and medical institutions, according to security expert Allen Phelps, CEO of Texas-based IP Talons. "For decades, our policy has been to invite the world's best and brightest minds to come to the U.S. and work with our best and brightest minds," says Phelps. "That worked perfectly fine until about 30 years ago, when nation states like China, Russia, Iran and North Korea realized that was an open door, and started to target our faculty members and academic researchers."
Texas passed a law this year to increase penalties for theft of academic research, and President Trump recently moved to revoke Chinese student visas for those suspected of espionage or intellectual property theft. But Phelps believes these institutions must do more to protect their own data, starting with the people directly in charge of that data. "Policies and procedures are good, but we really need a culture shift in the researchers themselves," he tells KTRH. "You're working on something that's incredibly valuable, and you have an obligation not to misuse that access granted to you, and to prevent misappropriation by hostile actors."
Photo: AFP