The Global Terror Alliance, a “think tank” for the terror groups in the virtual domain, has barred the cadres of its affiliates like the Al Qaeda and ISIS from using Chinese hardware like computers, mobile phones and pen drives.
Some of the terror groups like the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), a Chinese terror group comprising Uyghur nationalists, has killed 20-25 cadres for possessing such Chinese hardware despite warnings.
For the terror groups, those possessing Chinese hardware are considered pro-China or even Chinese spies.
While ISIS is estimated to have nearly 10,000 terrorists in its fold, Al Qaeda’s operational strength is pegged at 5,000 to 6,000. The warning by the Global Terror Alliance comes amid apprehension that the Chinese hardware have “backdoors” or are equipped with spywares through which the data is collected by the authorities in Beijing, including the Ministry of State Security, the Chinese intelligence agency.
Besides the global terrorist groups, the anti-India terror groups operating out of Pakistan are also apprehending existential threats due to Chinese hardware. The anti-India terror groups, though backed by the Pakistani politico-military-ISI complex, apprehend that Beijing collects data through the equipment originating from China and shares such compromised data with Rawalpindi, the headquarters of the Pakistani military.
The Pakistani terror groups like the Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Tayyaba among others further apprehend that there are moles in the ranks of the Pakistan spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) who share information with India and in turn compromise their security.
The apprehension by the Pakistani terror groups comes amid killings of about 15 terror operatives in Pakistan in the last few months.
Chinese hardware is suspected to be compromised and even telecommunication equipment of Chinese majors like Huawei and ZTE are being barred by several countries, including for the 5G networks being rolled out in European countries as also in countries like India and the US.
Earlier, during the UPA I and UPA II regimes here, Chinese mobile phones minus IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) were used in significant numbers by the terror groups for triggering IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices), without leaving a trail by the terrorist, which made investigation of such cases difficult. Subsequently, the Government formulated policies to check the sale of such phones.
Way back in 2017, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the biggest paramilitary in the country, made Chinese mobile apps a taboo for its personnel amid a security threat from spyware and malicious wares, especially from applications developed by Chinese companies. The threat to data security came even from at least 42 popular apps like Truecaller, Shareit, Newsdog, Weibo and Wechat.
“A number of Android/IOS apps by Chinese developers or having Chinese links are either spyware or malicious ware. Use of these apps by our force personnel can be detrimental to data security having implications on the Force and national security,” according to communication of the CRPF then circulated to all its formations.
“It is requested that all officers and men under your command may be advised not to use these apps either in office or on personal mobile phones. If some of them are already using any of these apps then they should be asked to immediately uninstall the app and format their cellphones. For strict compliance, please,” the paramilitary had warned.
Through the advisory issued by the Information Technology Cell of the CRPF Directorate here also directed all its formations to issue comprehensive guidelines on using mobile applications with Chinese origin.
Similar advisories have been issued here by other agencies against using Chinese software and hardware amid concerns of data compromise.
