Image Source : Getty
By Christian George
The Australian government has ordered the examination of Chinese-made surveillance technologies in defense offices.
Defence Minister Richard Marles said on Thursday due to alleged reports that Chinese-made cameras installed in the facility may pose security threats.
Recently, Britain had stopped the installation of Chinese surveillance technologies on sensitive buildings as an aftermath of security risk and US states have banned vendors and products from several Chinese technology companies.
Reuters reported opposition lawmaker, James Paterson, saying that his own audit had revealed almost 1,000 units of equipment by Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology and Dahua Technology Co two partly state-owned Chinese firms were installed across more than 250 Australian government offices.
The minister for cyber security and countering foreign interference, urged the government to urgently come up with a plan to remove all such cameras.
“This is an issue and we’re doing an assessment of all the technology for surveillance within the defence and where those particular cameras are found, they are going to be removed,” Marles told ABC Radio in an interview.
“Our cameras are compliant with all applicable Australian laws and regulations and are subject to strict security requirements,” a spokesperson for Hikvision said in an emailed response.
