Indian security agencies are concerned about a potential huge data breach triggered by Chinese microchips and hardware detected in biometric attendance systems (BAS) deployed in central and state government buildings, including sensitive departments.
During their investigations, intelligence agencies discovered that over a dozen Indian enterprises that sold these biometric attendance systems to government offices used devices with Chinese-origin parts. The firms are under the scanner for potential data leaks.
Nearly 7,500 central and state government institutions, employing around 900,000 central and 1.7 million state employees, may have been using over 80,000 dubious biometric attendance systems. This includes key central and state government buildings, as well as military and defence offices.
According to intelligence sources, these biometric attendance systems can be easily utilised by Chinese firms to gain access to data such as the number of officials in a specific organisation, their designations, and even their locations.
These companies are bound by China's National Intelligence Law, 2017, to send all of their data to Chinese state intelligence agencies. The law, which went into force in June 2017, gives the Chinese government extensive power to manage and access data from companies that fall under its jurisdiction.
Given China's aggressive spying tactics, India's ministry of home affairs has established a dedicated wing of intelligence officials to monitor Chinese firms' activity in India as well as the Indian security system. Furthermore, the Indian government is working to eliminate the presence of Chinese-made equipment, particularly from the national security apparatus.
Earlier, security officials expressed serious concerns about the potential threat of data leakage from surveillance cameras, particularly those of Chinese origin, installed at various military installations across the country.
According to a letter from the Integrated Defence Headquarters at the Ministry of Defence (MoD), one of the market leaders in surveillance cameras, which is 41% owned by the Chinese government, is operating in India through a collaboration with an Indian company. The modules for these camera systems are supplied by a Chinese company, although the items are advertised as 'Made in India', the MoD stated.
Following the Chinese troops' incursion into Ladakh, the ministry of finance's department of expenditure issued GFR (general finance rule) 144 XI on July 23, 2020, to ensure that Chinese firms do not participate in procurements directly or through Indian/Chinese subsidiaries without first registering with the DPIIT (Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade).
