The Executive Yuan is this week to unveil its first blacklist of communications and electronic devices that could threaten the nation’s cybersecurity.
Central and local government agencies were given three months to submit a list of such products after the Executive Yuan in April announced guidelines governing the use of products that could threaten information security in the country.
In April, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Kolas Yotaka said that the blacklist would be announced at the end of this month.
Devices made by major manufacturers in China, including Huawei Technology Co, ZTE Corp, Lenovo Group Ltd and Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co Ltd are expected to be on the blacklist.
Those made by manufacturers in other countries could also be on the list, as the guidelines do not specify which countries’ products pose a threat.
Although the government has since 2013 banned telecoms and government departments from purchasing equipment from Huawei and ZTE, this would be the first time that the nation compiles a blacklist and issues cybersecurity warnings about products made by Chinese technology firms, Department of Cyber Security Director Jyan Hong-wei (簡宏偉) said in an interview with the Nikkei Asian Review in January.
Based on the guidelines announced in April, all government organizations are banned from purchasing and using products that would compromise the nation’s information security, except those that need to access the products for business purposes and have no alternative.
Once a government agency identifies devices that could breach the nation’s cybersecurity regulations, it must disconnect them from any government network and not use them to handle or store government information, the guidelines state.
The devices must be destroyed when they need to be replaced, and must be replaced with products that do not pose a security threat, the guidelines state.
The guidelines apply to central and local government agencies, state-run government agencies, public schools, key infrastructure providers and government-supported foundations, not private businesses and citizens, the Executive Yuan said.
The guidelines list infrastructure providers as energy, water, communications and transportation providers, government agencies, emergency rescue services and hospitals, and science and industrial parks.
Computer servers, Web cameras, uncrewed aerial vehicles, core networks used by telecoms, computer software, and anti-virus software are among the products listed as relevant to cybersecurity.
The Industrial Technology Research Institute funded by the Ministry of Economic Affairs on Jan. 14 began banning employees using Huawei mobile phones from connecting to its intranet.
The Institute for Information Industry, which is also funded by the ministry, in April announced that devices produced by Huawei would not be allowed to link to its internal network.
Employees at the National Applied Research Laboratories are not allowed to access its intranet with Chinese-branded mobile phones or laptops.
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