Huawei's secret back doors

An investigation of the telecommunications equipment produced by China’s Huawei Technologies Ltd. has uncovered numerous cases of secret access points that could allow Chinese intelligence to conduct cyber-operations through the equipment.

Finite State, a cyber-security research firm, conducted a survey of Huawei equipment and discovered that 55% of Huawei hardware devices it tested contained at least one backdoor access point.

The vulnerabilities in Huawei products pose serious security threats of cyber attack and data ex-filtration if the equipment is used, according to Finite’s report on Huawei published Wednesday.

“The Chinese National Intelligence Law of 2016 requires all companies ‘to support, provide assistance, and cooperate in national intelligence work,’” the report stated. “Even if Huawei may be technically correct in saying that Chinese law doesn’t explicitly ‘compel’ the installation of back doors, China’s intelligence and counter-espionage activities tend to be so expansive that these provisions could be used to justify activities extending well beyond China’s borders.”

The report notes that Huawei dominates the global market for next-generation 5G telecommunications infrastructure. The concern is that all data passing through mobile devices, smart homes and other internet-connected devices will become cyber attack vectors if Huawei equipment is used in 5G networks.

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