US has history of spying on phone networks, Huawei hits back

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US has history of spying on phone networks, Huawei hits back

US has been covertly accessing telecom networks worldwide, spying on other countries for quite some time: Huawei

Friday February 14, 2020 5:43 PM, IANS

San Francisco: Chinese telecom equipment and smartphone giant Huawei has hit back at the US after being accused of backdoor spying, claiming that it doesn't have the alleged capability. The tech giant also said that the US itself has a long history of spying on phone networks.

According to Huawei, the US has been covertly accessing telecom networks worldwide, spying on other countries for quite some time.

The report by the Washington Post this week about how the CIA used an encryption company to spy on other countries for decades is yet additional proof, it said.

"US allegations of Huawei using lawful interception are nothing but a smokescreen -- they don't adhere to any form of accepted logic in the cyber security domain. Huawei has never and will never covertly access telecom networks, nor do we have the capability to do so," the company said in a statement on Thursday.

The tech giant also hit out at the WSJ saying: "The Wall Street Journal is clearly aware that the US government can't provide any evidence to support their allegations, and yet it still chose to repeat the lies being spread by these US officials. This reflects The Wall Street Journal's bias against Huawei and undermines its credibility."

A WSJ report on Wednesday said the Chinese tech giant can reportedly access the networks it helped build that are being used by mobile phones across the globe.

It is using backdoors intended for law enforcement for over a decade, the report added, citing US officials.

The details were disclosed to the UK and Germany at the end of 2019 after the US had noticed access since 2009 across 4G equipment, according to the report.

The smartphone major also noted that cyber security and user privacy protection are its top priorities.

"The remarks made by US officials completely ignore the huge investment and best practices of Huawei and carriers in cyber security risk management. We are very indignant that the US government has spared no efforts to stigmatise Huawei by using cyber security issues.

"If the US does discover Huawei's violations, we again solemnly request the US to disclose specific evidence instead of using the media to spread rumors," the company added.

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