Adversary Intelligence — 2026-05-29

Chinese Surveillance Cameras Penetrated Czech Military Bases and Critical Infrastructure Despite Warnings

BLUFBinding national removal of Chinese cameras from Czech military and critical sites remains very unlikely through 2026, leaving exploitable collection risk at depots and command facilities that allies cannot independently verify.

Investigace.cz on May 28 documented Hikvision and Dahua cameras at Czech Army weapons depots in Hradiště and Olomouc, on the General Staff building, and on the Prague facility housing NÚKIB, the national cyber agency 12. NÚKIB's August 2025 strategic analysis designated Chinese IP cameras high-risk and stated it is likely that "some cameras have been compromised to some extent by Chinese authorities" 3. Czech police, the Railway Administration, Prague Municipal Police, and the Fire Department all purchased or installed Hikvision systems after that warning, per Investigace.cz 12. The Ministry of Defense told Investigace.cz the cameras run on an isolated military network without internet access; cybersecurity expert Martin Haller said such air-gap measures require continuous enforcement and cannot be assumed to hold 1.

Analysis
Post-warning procurement across police, railway, and fire services confirms replacement is not a near-term institutional priority. A binding removal directive is very unlikely by end of 2026. Residual collection risk at weapons depots and command facilities will persist without verified mitigation. We assess this with moderate confidence: two independent primary investigations corroborate NÚKIB's own high-risk designation, though neither provides direct visibility into government deliberations on binding legislation. Hardware on isolated military networks may pose no actionable collection threat in those specific deployments, rendering a binding mandate disproportionate to residual exposure. Allied partners cannot treat Czech institutional assurances as sufficient and must independently audit network isolation at joint facilities.

3 sources

How Chinese Surveillance Cameras Penetrated Czech Critical Infrastructure - VSquare
Česko pod dohledem Pekingu. Čínské kamery dohlíží na kritickou infrastrukturu státu i armádní sklady zbraní - Investigace.cz
Strategická analýza: Čínské IP kamerové systémy (Strategic Analysis: Chinese IP Camera Systems) - NÚKIB (National Cyber and Information Security Agency of the Czech Republic)