Restrictions fail to curb Chinese device proliferation in US networks

SecurityWeek reports that China-made devices in U.S. networks have increased by 40% year-over-year to nearly 300,000 in February, accounting for 4% of all U.S.-located devices, despite federal government efforts to curtail the utilization of Chinese products in the country, including a recent executive order emphasizing the security risks of China-made cranes, cars, and energy-storage batteries.

IT products accounted for 88% of the U.S.-located China-made devices, with computers, mobile devices, and surveillance tools being the most prevalent products, a report from Forescout revealed. Moreover, Lenovo was the leading manufacturer of Chinese devices within U.S. networks, followed by Hikvision and Chongqing Fugui Electronics. The findings also showed an increased prevalence of China-made devices within the networks of Singapore, Australia, and the UK, but a decline within the networks of Germany and Canada. "Organizations must pay attention to every asset on their network, be it IT, IoT, IoMT or OT, because they all can present cyber risks. Devices that carry additional risk due to where they were manufactured must be inspected even more closely," said Forescout.