On February 2, 2026, the Ministry of State Security published an alert on NFC (near-field communication) risks: while the technology enables "tap-and-go" convenience across payments, access control, transit and file transfer, it carries real risks of information leakage — and even national security consequences.
Three main risks: first, an "adjacent channel" for leaking classified information — unprotected NFC storage media in sensitive areas can be read and copied at close range undetected; second, a "penetrating threat" to critical facilities — unencrypted NFC modules can suffer man-in-the-middle attacks, enabling payment fraud or sabotage of energy and transport infrastructure; third, a "systemic challenge" for data governance — weakly encrypted data is easy to intercept, and some overseas NFC applications may transmit sensitive data abroad, risking exploitation by espionage services.
Recommended safeguards: strengthen awareness (never bring NFC devices into sensitive areas; keep systems updated); tighten permissions (grant access only to legitimate apps; disable NFC when not needed); improve technical protection (encrypt at design stage; hunt for vulnerabilities). Suspicious activity can be reported via the 12339 hotline or official channels.