Cybersecurity Policy Report, DeepSeek AI Faces Ban From Federal Networks Over Data Security Concerns, (Oct 19, 2026)
Federal agencies will be barred from using information technology products and services developed by Hangzhou DeepSeek Artificial Intelligence Co. Ltd. under an order due to be published in tomorrow’s Federal Register.
The order from the Department of Homeland Security also requires the removal of any existing DeepSeek technology from civilian federal networks, effective immediately.
The order, signed by Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin in July and appended to the Federal Registernotice, found that DeepSeek’s AI models posed a threat to national security. The order cites the Federal Acquisition Supply Chain Security Act of 2018 and notes that, under the law of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), DeepSeek is obliged to share data with the Chinese government.
“DeepSeek’s models present multiple threat vectors. DeepSeek servers are located in the PRC, and the PRC legal system permits extensive authority to government cyber and intelligence functions to access private company infrastructure,” it says.
“For DeepSeek-hosted instances of their models, DeepSeek’s account generation process collects personally identifiable information (PII) and may also trace and digitally fingerprint users. DeepSeek’s most widely used applications function through a prompt-and-response process that requires presenting information to the model, and which may result in the transfer of sensitive data to the PRC if used by U.S. government employees or vendors,” it says.
“The models themselves may contain malware or other security vulnerabilities,” it adds.
The order recommended that federal agencies using DeepSeek adopt interim cybersecurity measures to protect agency data prior to the issuance of the order, including “monitoring flow of traffic in and out of the agency, implementing enhanced logging and controls on data exfiltration for the relevant systems, and detecting and flagging anomalous activity.”
DeepSeek did not respond to a request for comment.
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