Senior members of the House Intelligence Committee said on Thursday that two Chinese telecommunications companies are helping Chinese intelligence by providing access to data moved on computer and network equipment sold to governments and companies around the world.
Rep. Michael Rogers, chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said Huawei Technologies Co. and ZTE Corp. could be compelled to assist China’s government if asked for data that passes through the company’s network routers. Furthermore, malicious code could be inserted in the companies’ software and exploited by China’s government, he said during a committee hearing.
…
Rogers (R., Mich.) warned that computer equipment is vulnerable to “backdoors and malicious” code that can be inserted by foreign countries.
According to U.S. officials, both Huawei and ZTE have close ties to the Chinese government and military.
…
In one case, according to other U.S. officials, China several years ago sold counterfeit routers disguised as Cisco Systems routers to the Pentagon. The equipment was found to be transmitting signals as part of an apparent intelligence-gathering effort. The counterfeit routers were eventually traced to China.
Full article: Beijing’s Backdoors (Washington Free Beacon)
Global Geopolitics 