A different kind of China Syndrome is set to play out in your living room. After tackling telecom and power, India?s security agencies have turned to Chinese digital set-top boxes (STBs). The expected avalanche of STBs from across the border has alarmed the agencies, which see a potential security threat in every made-in-China STB.
Official sources told FE that the security agencies have proposed guidelines for importing STBs similar to those already in place for telecommunication equipment.
If the proposal goes through, the STB importer will have to give a personal undertaking regarding the legitimacy of the product.
The agencies will be empowered to examine the consignments periodically and run tests. Any violation will attract penalties of up to R50 crore and cancellation of cable TV licence. Security agencies are referring to similar provisions currently in place for the telecommunication sector while drafting these rules.
Security agencies fear that 95% of STBs in the digital regime could come from the northern neighbour, calling for new rules.
After the Union Cabinet cleared mandatory digitisation of cable TV, operators have started tapping low-cost Chinese and Taiwanese STB vendors to supply India’s 90 million cable homes. Bulk orders are likely to be placed within a month. A source said that 12-14 million STBs may be need for metros, where cable consumers must have digital STBs by March 31, 2012. Overall, multi-system operators expect to import around 40 million STBs worth R20,000-25,000 crore from Chinese manufacturers in two years. How justified are these fears? ?One can tamper with the software controlling the ports for video conference using an advanced digital STB. Audio and video monitoring of any consumer premises can be done if someone wants to do it using the digital cable TV infrastructure,? said Vineet Wadhwa, chief technology officer, Logic Eastern, a Noida-based STB manufacturer.
Technical experts in the DTH industry confirmed that both cable and DTH infrastructure could be used to set up secure communication networks between individuals and organisations. ?It will be welcome if security agencies wake up to the fact that a bulk of the cable and DTH industry imports equipment from China. There is no harm in safeguarding our interests,? said a technical expert associated with a leading DTH firm. There are no security-related norms in force for importing cable and DTH equipment. In telecom, for instance, where bulk of the equipment are sourced from Chinese vendors, the government has put in place a security mechanism. All equipment providers shipping to India must provide self-certification that the consignment is free from any malware. If any malware is detected at any time in the network, hefty penalties are levied. ?Provisions similar to those in the amended unified access service licence regime may be finalised for the cable TV sector too. Stakeholders may be involved in consultations at a later date but before the norms are enforced,? said a senior government official.