China Adopts New Regulations in an Attempt to Boost Cybersecurity

In a not so surprising twist, the Chinese government has adopted new regulations requiring technology companies, such as Apple, Inc., to allow security inspections of their products prior to entering them into the market, according to the New York Times. These security audits are designed to ensure that products that will be used in the nation, including in highly sensitive sectors like the banking industry, military and government agencies, do not have backdoors accessible by foreign nations reported Bloomberg. Any product not deemed to be “safe and controllable” will be banned, the article added. These measures, which were approved last year, will go into effect this year, the article reported.

This news closely follows British Prime Minister David Cameron’s recent announcement of his support for the ban on encrypted forms of communication. Bloomberg further reported that the Chinese government is justifying its latest move by citing national security reasons, the same reasoning behind Cameron’s support for a ban on encrypted communications. These regulations are also aimed at purging foreign technologies from the nation’s key industries by 2020, adds the article. However, foreign companies maintain that this latest move is simply an attempt to force them out of the Chinese market, the New York Times reported.

Apple, Inc. which has recently announced that it plans to release products containing encryption that is impossible even for the company to undo, has actually agreed to comply with China’s latest regulations, the Telegraph reported. The invasiveness of these measures are quite alarming, specifically the requirement that companies provide the Chinese government secret source codes for their products, The New York Times added. This is especially troubling because of China’s extensive history of economic espionage, namely the PLA’s Unit 61398, believed to have been responsible for stealing technologies from five American companies, adds the report. The report further stated that this is just the latest in a series of measures that is widening the division between the internet available to the Chinese market and the internet available to the rest of the world.