Electronic surveillance

Chinese Surveillance Tech Could Be Watching the U.S. Military

Three months after a federal law banned certain Chinese tech devices from U.S. government use, the federal government still operate thousands of the prohibited devices. According to C4ISRNet, security researchers found 3,500 sooned-to-be banned devices still on government networks. Senator Marco Rubio, concerned that devices on U.S. military networks could become compromised and act as surveillance devices for Chinese intelligence, recently wrote to the Pentagon asking for quick action.

The 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which also contains the annual defense budget, banned the Pentagon from using cameras supplied by Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology and Dahua Technology. Hytera Communications Corporation, which makes handheld radios, is also banned. The two companies make a variety of popular, low-cost surveillance cameras, that are even available on Amazon. The 2019 NDAA also banned network hardware sold by Chinese telecom giants ZTE and Huawei.

The problem with the cameras? They’re connected to the internet, allowing users to configure them—and use them—through a web browser. While that’s convenient for everyone, it also opens up security concerns. Devices with so-called “backdoors”—secret methods of controlling them or gaining access to their video feeds—could allow outside parties to use them for spying purposes.