Government agencies must secure approval from the Ministry of Digital Affairs (MODA) before they can use China-made cybersecurity products, incoming minister of digital affairs Lin Yi-jing (林宜敬) said yesterday.
Lin, who does not take office until Monday, made the statement during the news conference after the weekly Cabinet meeting, where new Cabinet members were introduced to the public, during which he was asked about the Taipei City Government’s plan to use robots manufactured in China for sidewalk inspections.
Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said that government agencies have restricted the use of cybersecurity products manufactured in China following the promulgation of the Principles on Limiting Harmful Products Against National Information Security Used by Government Agencies (各機關對危害國家資通安全產品限制使用原則) in 2019.
Photo courtesy of the Taipei City Government
The ministry has also regulated the use of cybersecurity products in government departments since then, she added.
Lin said that approval from Taipei City Government and Executive Yuan chief information security officers, and the ministry would be required before government agencies could use Chinese cybersecurity products.
As of Wednesday, the ministry had yet to receive the Taipei City Government’s request to use Chinese robotic dogs, Lin said.
“We want to remind the city to beware of the cybersecurity implications of such use,” Lin added.
High-tech products, such as robotic dogs, are extremely sophisticated devices and could be connected to the Internet, Lin said.
“Even if current cybersecurity testing equipment indicates they are secure, their operating software could still be altered through remote connections and automatic updates. In such cases, hostile foreign forces might remotely control these devices and transmit data collected by robotic dogs abroad,” he added.
The city government’s plan sparked controversy after Taipei Deputy Mayor Lee Ssu-chuan (李四川) wrote about it on Facebook, and included a photograph of a robotic dog.
The robot, which has a panoramic surveillance system, would be able to flag problems and easily navigate narrow sidewalks, making inspections faster and more accurate, Lee said.
Democratic Progressive Party Taipei City councilors said that the body of the robotic dog was manufactured in China and demanded that the city government cease its use.
The city’s New Construction Office said that using the robotic dog for sidewalk inspections posed no security risk, as its panoramic surveillance system, data transmission function and its remote-control software were developed and integrated by a Taiwanese company.
The robotic dog is part of a trial program, and has yet to be officially applied in sidewalk inspections, they said.
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