The UK’s National Grid has ended a contract with its Beijing-backed supplier of electrical components after receiving guidance from the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).
Nari Technology has 51.48% of its shares owned by a Chinese state-owned electricity infrastructure company.
As a result of the contract termination, National Grid has also begun removing modules already installed on the network that were previously supplied by Nari Technology.
Growing fear of Chinese electronics
The UK has gradually been phasing out Chinese supplied electronics due to security fears surrounding Chinese state influence in Chinese companies. This follows a general trend of Western countries taking steps to secure critical infrastructure against any potential foreign interference.
The UK government has recently taken a number of steps towards securing its infrastructure, including buying out a Chinese state-owned company involved in the development of the Sizewell C nuclear plant, and bowing to US pressure to ban the use of Huawei supplied electronics in the development of its 5G network.
According to a Financial Times source, the electronics of concern are used to communicate between the electricity grid and energy projects, and help to minimize blackouts. According to a NR Electric UK employee, the company had worked on about 15 sites and that previous testing of the supplied components had not shown “any potential risk”.
Commenting on the decision to end the contracts, a UK government official stated, “The UK takes its national security extremely seriously, including the security of its critical infrastructure and all sectors of the economy. We work closely with the private sector to safeguard our national security.”
The Chinese embassy in London commented, “The China-UK practical co-operation is a win-win one that brings benefits to both sides, and the two countries should make joint efforts to create conducive environment to it.”
The US has recently suffered a number of probing cyber attacks against critical infrastructure sites, with officials alleging the attacks were conducted by the Chinese military to develop an attack playbook in the event war breaks out between the two superpowers.
Via FinancialTimes
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