UK: China could use microchips to disable smart meters in British homes, MP warns

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Britain faces a “silent vulnerability” from Chinese microchips embedded in growing numbers of everyday appliances and cars, a Labour MP has warned.

The reliance on Chinese components for remote-controlled appliances created the risk that vital household technology could be disabled by China, according to Graeme Downie, who chairs the Coalition on Secure Technology campaign group.

Downie argued it was not a theoretical risk but a “real vulnerability in the systems that power our homes, hospitals and national infrastructure” and said ministers must act to reduce the country’s reliance on Chinese microchips by investing in alternatives manufactured in the UK or in allied countries.

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The microchips transmit and receive information through computer networks, known as Chinese-made cellular IoT modules (CIMs). They enable real-time data transmission as well as remote control and predictive analytics. They have been described as “gateways to computers” and can be accessed by their manufacturer at any time.

Research by the Coalition on Secure Technology found that two thirds of all CIMs were supplied by a handful of Chinese firms: the Shanghai-based Quectel and, in Shenzhen, a city in southeast China often referred to as the country’s Silicon Valley, Kaifa Technology and Fibocom.

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Chinese companies are subject to strict regulatory requirements that compel them to act on instructions from the ruling Chinese Communist Party and state authorities. This is particularly the case for issues deemed important to national security, prompting concerns that embedding Chinese-manufactured devices in so much of Britain’s technology could hand Beijing the capacity to cause widespread disruption by disabling devices or entire networks. While the devices cannot be used to hack into systems remotely, they can be disabled and used to collect data.

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Sir Richard Dearlove, the former head of MI6, and Charles Parton, a veteran diplomat, have warned that the dominance of Chinese companies in the IoT industry could allow Beijing to switch off Britain’s traffic lights and “immobilise London”.

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