Leading Chinese technology companies have sold equipment to state governments in the U.S. that can be used by Beijing to obtain sensitive information, according to a security analysis made public Monday.

H/T: The Washington Times

Florida Senator Marco Rubio joined the co-founder of the group that authored the report to discuss risky technology contracts in 43 U.S. states with Chinese controlled companies during a media teleconference.

“When you embed into a state and local system, it allows you the opportunity to do things like steal intellectual property — research funded by taxpayers that’s then turned to the advantage of their companies, which don’t have to spend the money on the basic research,” Sen. Rubio said.

“We have never faced that sort of vulnerability before in the backbone of our country, and it is something that we need to bring more awareness about,” he added.

Listen to the full media teleconference below. Sen. Rubio begins speaking around the 3-minute mark.

Special Report: State Contracts with Banned Chinese Tech Manufacturers https://t.co/BspvNVuxu4 — DeepClips (@DeepClips) February 25, 2020

Read the full report below.