New clauses in China's cyber security laws give the Ministry of Public Security broad powers to carry out on-site of remote inspections of the computer networks of any company with five or more machines connected to the Internet, the security intelligence firm Recorded Future claims. This would allow the copying of user information, the logging of security responses, and checking for vulnerabilities, the company, which has close links with In-Q-Tel, the CIA’s investment arm, and Google Ventures, said in a blog post. Additionally, security in the form of the People's Armed Police would attend on-sire inspections to ensure compliance by the company in question. The details of the new laws are relevant in the context of the claims of what China's laws can mandate for companies operating overseas by officials of Chinese telecommunications equipment vendor, Huawei Technologies. The Recorded Future post said the ministry could also conduct remote inspections of PCs to check for vulnerabilities. "For remote inspections, the ministry is able to involve third-party 'cyber security service agencies', increasing the risks of both vulnerability discovery and data leakages," the blog post claimed. The inspections also gave the ministry authority to look for digital content prohibited by China. According to Recorded Future, the new provisions "specify what measures its branches at the county level and above must implement in order to better protect, supervise, and manage cyber security under the CSL [China National Cyber Security Law]". The regulations do not make it mandatory for the ministry to disclose to the company in question what has been collected during an inspection. An officer of the company is required to sign a report prepared by the ministry during an on-site inspection, but this does not apply during a remote inspection.
China ’s cybersecurity laws have been expanded , giving fresh powers to the Ministry of Public Security to conduct on - site or remote inspection of companies ’ computer systems . Security intelligence provider Recorded Security said the provisions include authorisation to copy user data or information regarding security measures , and to search for digital content prohibited by the law . On - site inspections will be accompanied by the People 's Armed Police to ensure businesses comply . Meanwhile , there is no requirement within the regulations for the ministry to inform a company about the information it has gathered during an inspection .