Richard Clarke, who served as counter-terrorism czar for three U.S. presidents, is sounding the alarm over U.S. vulnerability to cyber-espionage from China.

In an interview in The Smithsonian, Clarke claims says that U.S. imports of chips, routers and hardware from Chinese and other foreign suppliers is leaving the U.S. open to potential cyber-warfare.  In fact, he says, “every major company in the United States has already been penetrated by China.”

He further claims that trade secrets and intellectual property are being stolen by hackers and funnelled back to China.

With the U.S. becoming increasingly dependent on electronic components and devices made by China and other foreign suppliers, Clarke worries about the potential for “Trojan horses” that could be activated on command remotely.

He said he fears the U.S. will lose its competitive edge because of “research and development stolen by the Chinese,” as “company after company in the United States spends millions, hundreds of millions, in some cases billions of dollars on R&D and that information goes free to China.”

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