The Chinese government often uses their tech companies to spread malware they can use to spy on world governments. They’ll blackmail a few employees or get leverage on them in some other way. Then, they ask that employee to install spy software or hardware on devices. The company won’t even know that China has infiltrated their manufacturing. This is, apparently, what happened to Supermicro, supplier of chips to Apple, Amazon, and others, but, again, Bloomberg has been unable to refute rebuttals from these companies.
A former Chinese military engineer founded Huawei. Recently, Canadian officials arrested Huawei’s CFO for violating sanctions against Iran. In January, Poland’s Internal Security Agency arrested a Huawei executive for espionage. The Chinese government and other Chinese companies appear to be rallying around the company, threatening to fire or punish anyone use uses an iPhone or other non-Chinese phone, and reward them for purchasing a Huawei device. Also, the Chinese government has released propaganda videos for Huawei.
This does not appear to be an innocent company. It looks to be a knowing ally of the Chinese government, aiding in espionage and bypassing sanctions. However, the Five Eyes have not publicly released their basis for warnings against Huawei, and seem to be keeping this information under wraps. They may be doing this to protect sources.
Now, eager to know what the U.S. has against Huawei, the company is suing to reverse a sales ban.
Huawei’s Lawsuit
Huawei is suing over the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). This bans the government from buying goods from Huawei, as it may be a security threat. It also specifically targeted other Chinese companies, including ZTE, another cellphone manufacturer. The ban not only stops government officials from buying what they consider to be compromised equipment from Huawei, but also prohibits dealing with third parties who use Huawei equipment. The idea is, if data goes through Huawei phones or other telecommunication devices, it’s compromised.
Huawei takes offense to this. Not only does it hurt the brand’s image, but it also reduces their sales in the U.S. and with our allies. They point to the fact that U.S. intelligence agencies haven’t given a reason for their ban, and that, by banning them without giving the company a chance to defend itself in court, they’ve violated the U.S. constitution.
Ulterior Motives?
Of course, Huawei could want more than a chance to compete with America consumers and U.S. allies. After all, they’ve chosen not to sell their flagship devices in the U.S. for years. Instead, they’ve only sold mid-range devices here. In the U.S., Huawei hasn’t even tried to compete. Why the interest now?
It’s possible that Huawei is hoping that, if this goes to court, the trial will force U.S. intelligence agencies to give up their evidence against Huawei if there is any. If such evidence exists, it would give Huawei the ability to figure out what parts of their operations have been compromised. It would also put sources within the company in danger.
Similar Cases
Kaspersky Labs is another company that faced a similar ban last year. It’s a Russian cybersecurity company. After Russians hacked the U.S. election to help Trump win the presidency, it’s clear why intelligence agencies want nothing to do with Russian cybersecurity software.
A U.S. judge dropped that lawsuit. Because of that, we can assume the same will happen to Huawei. After all, the United States isn’t going to let a foreign company out our own assets and risk national security.
What’s Going to Happen?
Huawei’s lawsuit, like Kaspersky Labs’, will likely be dismissed. The intelligence agencies that make up the Five Eyes are not going to reveal their information against Huawei and the Chinese government just because they ask for it. This would compromise sources and hurt future counterespionage efforts. The case will be dismissed, and intelligence agencies will protect their sources, assets, and classified information.
However, countries on the fence about Huawei may come away unimpressed or unconvinced. They may decide to continue using Huawei products. For Huawei, this lawsuit can either make them look better or help them reveal their compromised leakers. Either way, they win.
Huawei is one of the few companies worldwide rolling out 5G wireless technology. Numerous countries have already signed on for Huawei designed towers. If what the Five Eyes intelligence agencies say is true, these towers could allow Huawei to collect information on behalf of the Chinese government for all cellphone users in a region where it’s deployed. China may have gotten entire nations of infrastructure for man-in-the-middle attacks worldwide.
Spy agencies ask us to trust them, evidence unseen. For many countries, this is not convincing enough to push away Huawei’s technology, which can help them get a speed boost, pushing innovation in the country forward. These spy agencies have a difficult choice. They could reveal their evidence if it exists, damaging future efforts and revealing sources. Or they could stay quiet, and watch allies succumb to Chinese spying efforts with a greater worldwide scope than we’ve ever seen.
So far, they’ve stayed quiet, and other countries, including U.S. allies like Germany, have signed up for Huawei’s 5G towers. Let’s hope the Five Eyes agencies are wrong, otherwise, the Chinese now have unprecedented worldwide spying capabilities, and that’s far more terrifying than a lawsuit.
Sources:
- Andrew Blake, The Washington Times
- C. Scott Brown, Android Authority
- Mikey Campbell, AppleInsider
- Bill Chappell, NPR
- Danny Crichton, TechCrunch
- Huawei
- Claire Reilly, CNet
- Cameron Tousi, IPWatchDog
- Daisuke Wakabayashi and Alan Rappeport, The New York Times
- Raymond Zhong and Paul Mozur, The New York Times