PerspectiveSenior Huawei Official Acknowledges Ability to Clandestinely Access Mobile Networks
A senior Huawei official has conceded that the company can clandestinely access users’ mobile networks. “Huawei itself has provided evidence that it builds backdoors into its products,” Herb Lin writes. “In particular, the [Wall Street] Journal [on 12 February 2012] quoted a senior Huawei official as saying that network access without operator permission ‘is extremely implausible and would be discovered immediately.’ This statement is extremely significant in understanding what Huawei equipment can and cannot do.” Lin adds: “Huawei has not said that network access without operator permission is technically impossible—only that it is implausible and would be discovered immediately. These are very different claims.”
A senior Huawei official has conceded that the company can clandestinely access users’ mobile networks.
On 11 February 2020, the Wall Street Journal ran a story in which U.S. officials were cited as claiming that Huawei can “covertly access mobile-phone networks around the world through ‘back doors’ designed for use by law enforcement.” Herb Lin writes ion Lawfare that “In other words, these officials claimed that Huawei can exploit backdoors intended for law enforcement in order to access user data without the permission of either users or the network operator.”
The Journal also quoted National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien as saying, “We have evidence that Huawei has the capability secretly to access sensitive and personal information in systems it maintains and sells around the world.”
Huawei was quick to deny the charges by U.S. officials, but Lin notes that
Huawei itself has provided evidence that it builds backdoors into its products. In particular, the Journal quoted a senior Huawei official as saying that network access without operator permission “is extremely implausible and would be discovered immediately.” This statement is extremely significant in understanding what Huawei equipment can and cannot do.
Assuming that these words accurately represent the Huawei position, Huawei has not said that network access without operator permission is technically impossible—only that it is implausible and would be discovered immediately. These are very different claims. The first claim is that network access without operator permission categorically cannot happen. The second claim is that network access without operator permission can happen (though it is implausible) but that any such access would be discovered. Indeed, if an event does not and cannot happen, what would be there to discover?
…
So there you have it. A senior Huawei official has acknowledged that network access without operator permission is technically possible, as Huawei has gone from saying “it cannot happen” to “it can happen but someone would notice it.” For me, the comments from the unfortunately unnamed Huawei official are far more damaging to Huawei’s claims of “no backdoors” than the assertions from U.S. officials, who have not yet made public any of the evidence they say they possess regarding Huawei’s capabilities.
