China targets U.S. products, calls them 'terrible security threat'

China's government-friendly media outlets took aim at U.S. companies after the National Security Agency (NSA) leaker Edward Snowden revealed Cisco routers were allegedly used to spy on Chinese networks.

According to IB Times, which earlier reported on the claims, Chinese daily Sina cited eight companies, including Cisco, IBM, Google, and Apple, as the firms that are used by the U.S. government to spy on China. Another news outlet, Global Times, said that the company should reduce its reliance on American companies, adding that they pose a "terrible security threat."

The U.S. companies, of course, have never said that they're working with the U.S. government to spy on foreign governments. And China's news outlets have long been mouthpieces for the rhetoric the government espouses.
Still, that rhetoric is especially bad news for Cisco. The Global Times said that Huawei, Cisco's competitor in the country, could benefit greatly as the Chinese government presses companies to switch from the U.S.-based company's equipment to those produced by its own firms.

For its part, Cisco has denied claims that it worked with the NSA to spy on Chinese networks. The company has said that the networking equipment in place in China is the same that's installed anywhere else in the world.