Poland’s Ministry of Defence has banned Chinese cars – and any others include tech to record position, images, or sound – from entering protected military facilities.
A Tuesday announcement from the country’s Ministry of Defence says the decision came after risk analysis of the potential for the many gadgets built into modern cars to allow “uncontrolled acquisition and use of data.”
The ban also prohibits officials connecting their work phones to infotainment systems in China-made cars.
The ban isn’t permanent: the Ministry has called for development of a vetting process to allow carmakers to undergo a security assessment that, if passed, will mean their vehicles can enter protected facilities. Exemptions are also available for inspections carried out by state and local governments, and during rescues.
Poland says its ban is in line with standards observed by NATO members and other countries.
The Register is not aware of any other nation announcing a specific ban on made-in-China cars, however most nations do not allow filming and recording on military premises. The USA has banned the use of software from China and Russia in connected cars, effectively banning cars made in both countries from its shores.
And in Australia, minister for cybersecurity Tony Burke acquired a made-in-China electric vehicle and reported it to relevant authorities who advised him on necessary precautions.
This ban could be hard to enforce because European automakers such as Volvo and Polestar make some of their models in China.
Bans on Chinese technology are nothing new, as many nations decided Huawei and ZTE kit should not be allowed into their telecoms network because they could facilitate snooping, either with backdoored tech or if Beijing used its powers to compel co-operation on intelligence operations from any Middle Kingdom company. Sources tell The Register the latter scenario was the greater risk, as network equipment vendors nearly always obtain records of their clients’ operations and that info is very useful intelligence.
Whatever the truth of the matter, China managed to thoroughly infiltrate many networks through the Salt Typhoon attacks.
It’s been a busy week on the technology front for Poland’s military, as on Wednesday it announced it will use Dell kit to power an AI implementation center that will work on a Polish-language AI model called “Bielik.” Poland plans to adapt the model, which was developed by a local company called SpeakLeash with help from Intel, to power military applications. ®
