Dutch intelligence investigate alleged Huawei ‘backdoor’

Dutch intelligence services are probing Huawei for possibly spying for the Chinese government by using a “back door” in equipment of major telecoms firms.

Dutch intelligence probes Huawei for possibly spying for the Chinese government by using a “back door” in the equipment used by major telecoms firms.

Dutch intelligence shares the concerns raised by other western governments about the risks of involving the Chinese telco giant in the creation of the new 5G mobile phone infrastructure.

Since 2018, US Government has invitedd its allies to exclude Huawei equipment from critical infrastructure and 5G architectures.

According to Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant, the probe into Huawei is being led by the Dutch intelligence agency, AIVD.

The newspaper, citing intelligence sources, revealed that Huawei had alleged access to the data of customers of major telecoms firms in the country, including Vodafone, KPN and T-Mobile. In April, KPN announced a partnership with Huawei to update its 4G networks.

“The report comes at a crucial time in the Netherlands, with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte expected to make an imminent decision on the extent of Huawei’s involvement in the country’s 5G infrastructure.” reported the Telegraph.

AIVD did not comment the report, its spokesman Hilbert Bredemeijer explained that the spy agency “does not comment on possible individual cases.”

Huawei continues to refuse the accusation of cyber espionage, it also remarked that it is a private company not working for the Chinese intelligence apparatus.

“We do not respond to stories based on anonymous sources or speculation. We have been aware of a Task Force led by the NCTV (Ministry of Justice & Security) for some time to investigate the risks involved in the construction and use of 5G. That was previously announced in a letter from Minister Grapperhaus.” a Huawei spokesperson said.

“It is also known that the three major telecom parties are participating in the risk analysis of the vulnerability of 5G telecommunication networks. This involves looking at what measures are needed to minimize risks. We are in favor of taking general measures that can increase the resilience of telecommunications networks and that apply equally to all relevant parties. We look forward to the results of this report with confidence.”

The Dutch probe is part of a dispute between China and the United States over global trade and cyber espionage.

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Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – 5G, Dutch intelligence services)

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Pierluigi Paganini

Pierluigi Paganini is member of the ENISA (European Union Agency for Network and Information Security) Threat Landscape Stakeholder Group and Cyber G7 Group, he is also a Security Evangelist, Security Analyst and Freelance Writer. Editor-in-Chief at "Cyber Defense Magazine", Pierluigi is a cyber security expert with over 20 years experience in the field, he is Certified Ethical Hacker at EC Council in London. The passion for writing and a strong belief that security is founded on sharing and awareness led Pierluigi to find the security blog "Security Affairs" recently named a Top National Security Resource for US. Pierluigi is a member of the "The Hacker News" team and he is a writer for some major publications in the field such as Cyber War Zone, ICTTF, Infosec Island, Infosec Institute, The Hacker News Magazine and for many other Security magazines. Author of the Books "The Deep Dark Web" and “Digital Virtual Currency and Bitcoin”.