Maryland issues emergency directive to Chinese, US tech giants WeChat, WeChat

The emergency directive said the entities present an unacceptable level of cybersecurity risk to the state, and may be involved in activities such as cyber-espionage, surveillance of government entities, and inappropriate collection of sensitive personal information. There may be no greater threat to our personal safety and national security than the cyber vulnerabilities that support our daily lives, said Gov. Maryland took bold and decisive action to prepare for and address cybersecurity threats. We are issuing this emergency directive to foreign actors and organizations that try to weaken and divide us, in order to further protect our systems. The state's chief information security officer applies to TikTok, whose parent company, ByteDance, is based in China, Huawei and ZTE, both makers of mobiles and telecommunications technology, the online retail giant Alibaba and payment platform, the message app WeChat and Russia's Kaspersky. Agencies are required to remove these products from networks and prevent their use.

A TikTok spokeswoman said that the concerns driving these bans are largely fueled by misinformation about our company. We are always happy to meet with state policymakers to discuss privacy and security practices. We are disappointed that the many state agencies, offices, and universities that have been using TikTok to connect with constituents will no longer have access to our platform. Kaspersky didn't want to say anything. The other companies did not respond immediately to requests for comment.

In the past, Alibaba and Alipay have refused to make a statement about their claims of being national security risks. WeChat has denied being a national security risk.

In issuing the directive, state officials referred to FBI Director Chris Wray s statement that TikTok poses a security threat, and an NBC News report on Monday that a hacking group known as APT 41 and linked to the Chinese government stole $20 million in U.S. Covid relief benefits, including Small Business Administration money and unemployment insurance funds in over a dozen states.

The theft of taxpayer funds is the first instance of pandemic fraud tied to foreign, state-sponsored cybercriminals that the U.S. government has acknowledged publicly, but it may just be the tip of the iceberg, according to U.S. law enforcement officials and cybersecurity experts.

In May, the Biden administration stopped the approval of new telecommunications equipment from Huawei and ZTE because of an alleged risk to national security.

At the time, ZTE said, At no time, the United States government has identified any specific, addressable concerns with regard to products that ZTE sells in the United States or instances in which ZTE products have been used to harm U.S. security or consumer privacy. Huawei didn't want to say anything.

In November of this year, the state of South Dakota banned the use of TikTok by state agencies.