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Written question asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench) on Monday, 3 July 2023, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Monday, 17 July 2023. It was answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative) on Monday, 17 July 2023 on behalf of the Cabinet Office.

Hikvision: CCTV

Question

To ask His Majesty's Government whether all Hikvision camera-operated government departments have been updated to fix a known ‘backdoor’ hacking vulnerability identified by BBC Panorama, published on 26 June.

Answer

The government keeps the risk associated with technologies such as visual surveillance equipment under close review. The installation of firmware updates to address known vulnerabilities forms part of routine departmental security procedures.

In December 2022, the Chancellor for the Duchy of Lancaster laid a Written Statement before Parliament which instructed government departments to cease deployment of such equipment onto sensitive sites, where it is produced by companies subject to the National Intelligence Law of the People’s Republic of China. The WMS advised that no such equipment should be connected to departmental core networks and that they should consider whether they should remove and replace such equipment where it is deployed on sensitive sites rather than awaiting any scheduled upgrades.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
HL8966
Session
2022-23
Related items
Security Update on Surveillance Equipment
Thursday, 24 November 2022
Written statements
House of Commons
Subjects
CCTV Government departments Hacking Hikvision
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk