Will India ban China-made CCTVs? As Australia takes down cams, IT ministry mulls action

Ashwini Vaishnaw, India's minister of information technology, said India is capable of countering any cybersecurity threat and concerned wings are working on potential threats from China-made security cameras. Concerns over CCTV cameras made by Chinese companies were raised after Australia decided to remove all such security cams deployed at government buildings. “Our cybersecurity wings are already working on this. We should be able to counter any threat to India’s security. Whatever threat comes we should be able to counter it,” said IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.  

All our cyber security wings are working on it. We should be able to counter any threat to India's security: Electronics & IT Minister on Chinese CCTVs in govt set-ups in India, after Australia's decision to remove such cameras from defence sites over national security fears pic.twitter.com/8wvFIka10Z

— ANI (@ANI) February 28, 2023

Australia to discontinue using Made-in-China CCTVs

Amid potential security concerns with CCTV cameras of Chinese origin, Australia recently decided to remove them, reported the Australian publication, ‘The Age’. The Australian federal government, in an earlier action, removed hundreds of Chinese devices from Commonwealth departments and locations such as the Australian War Memorial. The shadow cyber security minister James Paterson stated in an audit of surveillance equipment it emerged that over 900 products built by Chinese companies Hikvision and Dahua are installed at government locations. 

US and UK were among the first countries to completely ban the use of China-made CCTVs at government sites with the US Federal Commissions warning of an “unacceptable risk to national security” to the possible snooping and spyware. Meanwhile, Hikvision has said it was categorically false to suggest the company was a threat to national security, reported The Age.