I mean, I’m old enough to remember Edward Snowden’s PRISM leaks. I can’t rule out that a Chinese-backed software company is functioning comparably to its American counterparts.
It’s just crazy to see how American attitude towards national surveillance has been twisted from “Damn, its bad that the state can spy on me all the time, but if I haven’t done anything wrong there’s probably nothing to worry about” to “It’s important that the people spying on me are Elon Musk and Donald Trump, rather than that evil Xi Jinping.”
“Chinese-backed” is weird phrasing. It’s like saying Ubisoft is US government backed because they have a business license and pay taxes.
The reality you live in must be nice. The CCP is just a peaceful little government trying to live its peaceful little life and bring people peace and happiness.
China is a threat though. Destruction of as many computers as possible is a real threat. CCP members being able to request access to control servers and fire employees that might otherwise refuse is a real threat.
So much of this is automated. You request SSH keys for “a review”, upload a file to the distribution system, it sends it out as an update, and the update waits for the command and control server to say “go” before sending your credit card numbers from Steam to the CCP and bricking your computer. If it ever happens, it will be over before you know what hit you.
