Identify Devices Included in The Secure Equipment Act

3 min

On November 25, 2022, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) amended the rules related to equipment authorization. This new document updates The Secure Equipment Act of 2021 (s.1790), which was unanimously passed by the US Senate in 2021.

As stated on the FCC website, the measures will “further secure our communications networks and supply chains from equipment that poses an unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States“.

Basically, this new act aims to restrict the deployment of telecommunications and video surveillance systems produced by Chinese companies, which may be considered a risk to National Security. 

This article will show how you can easily identify devices from the manufacturers included in this act on your managed networks.

Secure Equipment Act – Main Companies

Following is a list of the main companies in the updated “Secure Equipment Act”.

• Huawei Technologies Company: Telecommunications equipment. This includes telecommunications/video surveillance services provided by such entities or using such equipment. 
• ZTE Corporation: Telecommunications equipment, including telecommunications or video surveillance services provided by such entity or using such equipment.
• Hytera Communications Corporation: Video surveillance and telecommunications equipment. For instance, it is used for:
  • Public safety,
  • Security of government facilities,
  • Physical security surveillance of critical infrastructure
  • Other national security purposes include telecommunications or video surveillance services such entities provide.
• Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Company: Video surveillance and telecommunications equipment. For instance, it is used for:
  • Public safety,
  • Security of government facilities,
  • Physical security surveillance of critical infrastructure
  • Other national security purposes, including telecommunications or video surveillance services provided by such entity or using such equipment.
• Dahua Technology Company: Video surveillance and telecommunications equipment.

The full list of devices and companies added to the list can be found at this link.

What does The Secure Equipment Act of 2021 mean for your IT business?

Although it isn’t currently clear what will happen if these devices or services are found in an environment, it is important that MSPs and service providers take proactive action. Service providers should ensure they are fully aware when devices included in The Secure Equipment Act of 2021 are on a customer network. 

For this reason, we’ve worked on a script to detect whether any of these devices are on a network to assist with this. 

Find out if devices included in The Secure Equipment Act are on a network you manage

Summing up, by using Domotz, you will have two methods to identify if any devices listed on The Secure Equipment Act are on a network you manage:

1. Python script: We’ve developed a simple python script using the Domotz APIs, which can identify if any devices listed on The Secure Equipment Act of 2021 are on a network you are managing. 
2. Inventory Dashboard: Our powerful Inventory Dashboard allows you to search across all your sites and devices to quickly locate and manage them.

1. Python Script – Use our script to see if devices included in The Secure Equipment Act are on a network you manage

Finally, the following instructions should make it easy for those not developers to use the script anyways. In the meantime, if you need help, email us at support@domotz.com. 

1. Firstly, install Python (Python 3.8.5 or subsequent versions required). Download it now.
2. Secondly, download the Domotz script from GitHub and copy the content to your preferred folder. For instance C:\Users\myself\downloads\FCC_Report.
3. After that, get your API Key and API endpoint from the Domotz portal and take note of them. Learn more about how to get your API Key and API endpoint information.
4. Going on, open cmd.exe or PowerShell (Terminal on MacOS) and go to the folder above, e.g. cd C:\Users\myself\downloads\FCC_Report.  
5. At the end, run the command python -m fcc_covered_list_discovery main_report –endpoint=[Endpoint]  –api_key=[Your API-key]

In conclusion, the script will produce an Excel file containing details about the devices belonging to the restricted list of vendors. By editing the file banned_vendors.txt, you can also customize the list of vendors.

2. Inventory Dashboard

Firstly, our powerful Inventory dashboard lets you discover all the devices connected to your network. Leveraging our new, powerful search engine, users can search across hundreds of thousands of devices on thousands of Agents and locate a specific device. Globally search by MAC address (unique), IP address, specific vendors, models, or even specific labels like devices in “Rack rooms”.

Resources

Domotz Inventory Dashboard

Secure Equipment Act of 2021 

2022 amendment to The Secure Equipment Act