US: Pentagon Working on Software 'Do Not Buy' List to Keep Out Russia, China

To block software vendors from China and Russia, the U.S. is working on a software with "do not buy" list, a senior Defense Department acquisitions official said Friday, according to Reuters. 

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Ellen Lord, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, said the Pentagon has been working for six months on a "do not buy" list of software vendors which is meant to help the Department of Defense's acquisitions staff and industry partners avoid purchasing problematic code for the Pentagon and suppliers. 

"What we are doing is making sure that we do not buy software that has Russian or Chinese provenance, for instance, and quite often that's difficult to tell at first glance because of holding companies," she told the reporters during the briefing. 

The Pentagon has been working closely with the intelligence community, she said, adding "we have identified certain companies that do not operate in a way consistent with what we have for defense standards." 

The list identifying these companies will be made available to Pentagon's acquisitions staff, she further pointed out, without providing any further details. 

According to a Defense Department official, an upcoming report on the U.S. military supply chain will show the Pentagon depends on Chinese components for some military equipment. 

The industrial base report will also highlight elements of how "there is a large focus on dependency on foreign countries for supply, and China figures very prominently."

The report comes as the latest part of the United States government and media hysteria over cyber and economic threats from Russia and China as politicians and experts on both sides of the political spectrum seek to accuse Russia of meddling in the 2016 presidential elections while blaming China for the U.S.'s waning economic influence.