Kamal Ghorui
Iran war again shows smart devices are a grave national security risk. US is acting on this. India must vet imports
What 10 years of fighting and killing couldn’t do in Troy, a wooden gift horse did overnight. And now, almost 2,800 years after that story was first told, “Trojans” are hiding in plain sight everywhere. If you aren’t reading this in print, you probably have one in your hand this moment. Your Wi-Fi router is another. Step outside, and security cameras in corridors, elevators, shops, offices and streets are all Trojans too. Iran learnt this the hard way on Feb 28, when a US-Israeli strike took out supreme leader Khamenei. Reports say Israel knew his whereabouts because it had hacked Iran’s surveillance camera grid. It watched every face, every vehicle, round the clock, and used AI to zero in on persons of interest.
Think about it: what nailed Khamenei wasn’t an expensive US satellite. It was hardware that Iranian citizens and state had installed themselves. Israel merely penetrated it through a back door. Just as Hamas penetrated Israel’s CCTV infra before the Oct 2023 attack that – via many twists and turns – has led to this war. Russia does it in Ukraine daily, and Ukraine likewise in Russia. Every Iranian missile that finds its mark in Israel, or Gulf states, has CCTV assistance too. It’s bad enough to be watched all day, but not knowing who’s watching you – your supervisor, China, or a perv neighbour – makes it worse. In Jan, one security expert found 3mn unsecured CCTV cameras worldwide, with just one scan.
How did we – pretty much everyone – get here? By buying cheap cameras from China, disregarding security standards. That’s true of other hardware like modems and routers also. Which explains the sudden US announcement about banning imported routers. The anxiety isn’t new, though. Chinese-origin ‘Volt Typhoon’ hacking campaign in 2023 had exposed vulnerabilities of American infra, including telecom, power, water – anything running Chinese hardware.
More than 80% of India’s electronics imports originate in China. Post-Galwan, this had raised fears of China crippling critical infra, such as our power grid. Six years on, nothing has changed fundamentally, so we should be on our guard. CCTV use has grown, and now other connected devices, like smart electricity meters, are spreading. Without careful hardware vetting, that opens too many back doors for foreign powers, and bad actors like terrorists. While we certainly need many more smart devices, let’s ensure those aren’t Trojan horses.
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