Bloomberg has reported the Spanish government’s confirmation that Chinese tech giant Huawei is involved in wiretapping. This fuels concerns about whether cybersecurity risks are tied to the company’s global operations.
The outlet said that Huawei contributes to the country’s Sitel wiretapping system, allowing them to intercept communications. However, both Spain and Huawei claim that the latter plays a limited role.
The tech giant says that they don’t transmit sensitive information to foreign servers. They added that Sitel’s system is managed internally without the oversight of Spain’s intelligence networks.
The news comes amid scrutiny from the United States government. Last week, Senator Tom Cotton and Representative Rick Crawford urged the government to stop sharing intelligence with Spain.
They cited concerns over Huawei’s presence over the surveillance system as a national security threat. This was further fueled by Spain’s confirmation that the company is working with Sitel for their wiretapping infrastructure in some capacity.
Huawei has long been a target of the ire of US lawmakers, alleging the company has ties with the Chinese government. This began in May 2019, when President Trump signed an order keeping the company out of digital wireless networks in America.
This resulted in a significant decline for Huawei as they lost access to key software and hardware for development. US officials continue to warn that foreign involvement in national surveillance poses serious security risks.
While Spain downplays how big of a role Huawei plays in Sitel, European countries are on notice. The presence foreign telecom companies have on domestic networks is undergoing reassessment.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply