Huawei execs admit they do not know whether their tech is used for surveillance
Western Intel agencies can fill them in. They could provide solid evidence if they wanted.
Huawei has had a lot to deal with over the last few years.
Primarily, U.S. government officials have warned that the Chinese technology firm could be used as a tool for government surveillance or other intelligence operations, specifically via backdoors in its mobile networks. The Trump administration has banned Huawei technologies’ use in the federal government and made it difficult for the company to do business in the U.S. In recent months, the Department of Justice has alleged a Huawei subsidiary, has helped Iran run surveillance operations. Huawei technicians have also been accused of helping surveil targets in Africa.
In order to answer to each and every accusation, Huawei sent two of its top cybersecurity officials — Chief Security Officer Andy Purdy and Vice President of Risk Management and Partner Relations Tim Danks — to the RSA Conference in San Francisco last week. In an interview with CyberScoop, the company’s executives continued toeing the company line: that all the pressure exerted by the U.S. government is only going to hurt American businesses.
But a new wrinkle in their argument emerged when pressed on alleged surveillance operations: the executives indicated they don’t really have visibility into how their technology is used.