The National Office for Cyber and Information Security (NÚKIB) warns of the threat associated with the use of the We mobile applicationChat and its Chinese version Weixin (hereinafter referred to as WeChat). It collects a large amount of user data, and this – combined with the way it is collected – could be used to precisely target cyberattacks. Behind the We appChat Tencent is a company based in the People's Republic of China (PRC). According to verified information from the NÚKIB, it is closely linked to the Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party.
We PlatformChat It is used by approximately 1,3 billion active users worldwide. It is most popular in the PRC and in countries with large Chinese communities. In the Czech Republic, it is used by approximately 40 people, but these are often exposed individuals – e.g. diplomats, businessmen, academics or Chinese dissidents. Their sensitive data obtained through WeChat could be misused in the future, for example, for blackmail.
We App Related ThreatChat reminds of the threat associated with using the TikTok app from the Chinese company ByteDance. Before her NÚKIB he warned this March.
"We were led to issue the warning not only by our own analyses, but also by information from domestic and foreign partners. Unlike TikTok, however, the number of users on the We platform isChat significantly lower, which is why we have issued a warning in this case, rather than a warning," explains NÚKIB director Lukáš Kintr.
Application and social network with many other features WeChat was developed and operated by Tencent, headquartered in Shenzhen, China. It is therefore governed by Chinese legislation, which is very strict in many respects. For example, the State Security Act, the State Intelligence Act, as well as the Commercial Companies Act and the rules for reporting vulnerabilities in network devices, oblige individual entities to cooperate with Chinese security forces in various ways. Even if this goes against the interests of their foreign partners or customers. According to open sources and information from NÚKIB partners, Tencent is linked to the state administration of the PRC and the Communist Party of China. The influence of the PRC in the Czech Republic leads to reasonable concerns about the misuse of data that the application collects.
WeChat It has already been banned in India and in some US states. The Netherlands issued recommendations for civil servants this year.ance not to use applications from countries that conduct offensive cyber operations against the state. Similarly, Canada banned the application on government devices in 2023.
NÚKIB recommendation
"If you need WeChat To use it, we recommend that you have the application installed on a different device than the one you normally work with and on which you have your accounts and data. If this is not possible, we recommend that you WeChat "They were only on your device for the necessary time and you only allowed the app the permissions it needed to function," says NÚKIB director Lukáš Kintr.
NÚKIB in the case of the We applicationChat has issued a warning – this is not a warning under the Cybersecurity Act, as was the case with the TikTok application. However, according to the Office, the risks associated with using the We app are appropriate.Chat not to underestimate it and to adapt or significantly limit its possible further use.
