Windows 8 has been labeled as a potential threat in China

China Central Television, CCTV, has questioned Microsoft’s Windows 8, citing critical security concerns within the software company’s operating system. The state-run news station cited information it claimed was discovered by experts, which say the operating system had vulnerabilities which potentially could compromise a user’s personal data such as phone numbers and banking information. It also accused Microsoft of colluding with the U.S. government to engage in cyber spying. As a result of China’s controversy over the software giant’s latest operating system, the Xinhua news agency reported the country has banned the use of Windows 8 on all central state agency computers.

Chinese Central Television (CCTV), one of the country’s leading state television broadcasters, has weighed into the Chinese media’s continuing attack on US software and hardware systems, with a news report suggesting Windows 8 is a “potential threat” to China’s information security. In the report, aired this week, Ni Guangnan, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said that the operating system has the potential to collect more detailed information about Chinese nationals than the country’s own government can claim — with that data potentially ending up in the hands of the US government. “Your identity, account, contact book, phone numbers, all this data put together can be used for big data analysis,” said the academic. “This analysis could be more accurate than our own official statistics. The US has a law that requires any entities that have this data to voluntarily report to the government. So, the data might be a good way to monitor other countries.” According to Yang Min from Fudan University — who was also interviewed in the report — Microsoft has moved to withhold its source code from the Chinese government as it reviews US equipment within its borders, and poses a “challenge” to security.