Chinese authorities have told domestic companies to stop using cybersecurity software made by roughly a dozen firms from the US and Israel due to national security concerns, two people briefed on the matter said.

As trade and diplomatic tensions flare between China and the US and both sides vie for tech supremacy, Beijing has been keen to replace Western-made technology with domestic alternatives.

The US companies whose cybersecurity software has been banned include Broadcom-owned VMware, Palo Alto Networks, and Fortinet, while the Israeli companies include Check Point Software Technologies, the sources said.

Reuters was not able to establish how many Chinese companies received the notice that the sources said was issued in recent days.

Chinese authorities expressed concern that the software could collect and transmit confidential information abroad, the sources said. They declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the situation.

China’s internet regulator, the Cyberspace Administration of China, and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology had not responded to requests for comment at the time of publication. The four companies also did not reply to Reuters queries.

The United States and........

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