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Arunachal MLA urges Modi to ban Chinese CCTV cameras: 'must curb looming threat'
The Arunachal lawmaker mentioned a report to highlight how Internet Protocol (IP) cameras and internet- operated Digital Video Recording (DVR) devices were compromised by Chinese hackers.
A Congress MLA from Arunachal Pradesh has requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to direct a ban on the installation of Chinese Close Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras in government offices followed by a public awareness campaign educating people against its use in their homes. Citing an India Today report titled ‘The China Snooping Menace’, Ninong Ering, MLA from Pasighat West and former Union minister of state for minority affairs, expressed concern that Chinese made CCTVs used in India can be used as "eyes and ears for Beijing". He also underlined the grave threat to India's national security “since the existing laws and awareness are inadequate to deal with this threat.”
“In the present state of affairs, when China has repeatedly shown hostility not just on our LACS but also by attacking India's IT infrastructure, it is evident that India must take decisive action to curb this looming Chinese threat,” Ninong Ering said in a letter to Prime MInister Modi.
Noting the “regular attacks” on Indian institutions by Chinese hackers, the Congress MLA mentioned a report by a US-based threat intelligence firm that had claimed an apparent cyber-espionage campaign by suspected state-sponsored Chinese hackers. In the report published in June 2022, Recorded Future Inc. said the hackers focused on at least seven “load dispatch” centers in northern India that were responsible for carrying out real-time operations for grid control and electricity dispersal in the areas they were located, near the disputed India-China border in Ladakh.
The Arunachal lawmaker also highlighted how Internet Protocol (IP) cameras, often used in CCTV networks, and internet- operated Digital Video Recording (DVR) devices were compromised in the operation by the Chinese hackers.
“An estimate by the centre showed that there were over 2 million CCTVs installed across India, with over 90% of them made by companies that are partially owned by the Chinese government. Even more worrisome is the fact that more than half of these are installed in India's government departments,” he said.
“Hence, I will request that you immediately direct a ban on the installation of Chinese CCTV systems in Indian government offices. This can be followed by a launch of a public awareness campaign educating people against using Chinese CCTVs in their homes,” he added.
