October 17, 2023
Risky technology linked to the Chinese Communist Party has been quietly removed from an important Australian museum overseas, months after the devices were ordered stripped from government buildings and facilities.
The Department of Veterans' Affairs has removed 34 Hikvision CCTV cameras from the Sir John Monash Centre, a museum near Villers-Bretonneux in France that tells the story of Australian sacrifice on the Western Front in World War 1.
The department was asked in November what risky Chinese manufactured technology it had, but despite other agencies and departments ripping out more than 1000 Hikvision and Dahua devices immediately, it did not remove the cameras for months.
Eleven months after being asked by opposition cybersecurity spokesman James Paterson about the devices, the department finally responded last week, advising the devices had all been removed by May.
The devices, manufactured by Chinese companies with links back to the CCP and which are subject to Beijing's national security laws, were removed from Australian government facilities after an audit in response to the US government black-listing products because of security concerns.
Sites where the tech was removed included the ABC, Defence and DFAT buildings, as well as buildings housing the Attorney-General's Department, and from 88 electorate offices.
In responses to questions lodged by Senator Paterson, the Department of Veterans' Affairs confirmed it had located 34 Hikvision cameras at the Sir John Monash Centre, which were all replaced in May.
"The SJMC is a public-facing interpretive centre where limited departmental business is conducted," the department said last week.
It had previously confirmed it had removed 11 Hikvision cameras from its facilities in Canberra, including from the Australian War Memorial.
"It is welcome that the Department of Veterans' Affairs has finally got on top of their exposure to these risky products, although why it took them so long to disclose it has not been explained," Senator Paterson said.
"There remains an obvious need for a central government function to map our exposure to all these high risk vendors and provide mitigation advice.
"Hopefully the government will eventually announce a strategy for high risk vendors from authoritarian countries as part of their new cyber security strategy."
Western governments are moving away from Chinese-made tech because of growing concerns that they pose a security risk, and that fact Chinese-headquartered companies are subject to national security laws that require them to hand over data upon demand from Beijing's intelligence agencies.
Australia's Five Eyes and AUKUS partners the US and Britain moved last year to ban or restrict devices from Hikvision and Dahua because of its links back to the CCP, while the Pentagon also banned some devices because of suspected military links. The Defence Department is seeking to turbocharge the Australian drone industry after ridding itself of nonarmed Chinese DJI drones, which are used mainly for surveillance and photography.
As well as removing Hikvision, Dahua and DJI products, Australia has previously banned Chinese telco Huawei from participating in Australia's 5G rollout.
Social media platform TikTok, which is owned by a Chinese parent company, is also banned from being installed on government devices.
