China has denounced attempts at foreign espionage. The Ministry posted a warning to citizens on its WeChat channel about backdoors in devices, as well as attacks on the software supply chain. According to the statement, some developers and manufacturers install backdoors as harmless tools to facilitate maintenance, but “spies” or criminals use them to misuse the data they can extract.
This vulnerability is exploited to access a server, website, or local network undetected
Backdoors are special sequences within a programming code capable of bypassing the security algorithm used to access a system. This vulnerability is exploited to access a server, website, or local network undetected. These cases can be used to spy on the network, accessing phone calls or internet communications.
Chinese authorities advise citizens not to use foreign technological products. For them, the safest option is to use local technology. “In recent years, foreign intelligence agencies have been extending their malicious hands to this pristine blue water, taking various measures to strengthen reconnaissance and monitoring of the country’s waters, and carrying out a series of intelligence gathering and technology theft activities, threatening China’s national security,” the publication states.
Brussels has been warning for two years about the “high risk” of having Huawei as a supplier
The Ministry has made similar claims in the past, but this time it added an accusation. “A certain marine public welfare organization” used the pretext of “providing data to relevant departments” and instead collected marine data along China’s coast for other purposes, according to the official report.
All of this comes at a time when European relations with China and the giant Huawei are tense. Let’s remember that Brussels has been warning for two years about the “high risk” of having the Chinese company as a supplier, the danger of espionage and access to sensitive information by this company.
“The US government must ensure that any information shared with the Spanish government is worded”
Spain, for its part, is in the European Union’s crosshairs after renewing its ties with the Chinese company. In a joint letter issued this month by Tom Cotton, chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and Representative Rick Crawford, chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, they urged a review of intelligence agreements with Spain. The letter urges the US not to share sensitive data—from satellites, signals intelligence (SIGINT), or human sources (HUMINT)—if risks of leakage to China via Huawei persist.
In the letter, they point out that “in essence, Huawei and the CCP could have covert access to a NATO-allied nation’s lawful interception system, allowing them to monitor Spanish investigations into CCP spies and myriad other intelligence activities.”
Regarding this, the United States has asserted that while Spain takes no action, “the US government must ensure that any information shared with the Spanish government is worded so that information that shouldn’t be shared with the CCP is not shared.”
In this sense, Huawei’s storage of interceptions invites cyberattacks or leaks, compromising data sovereignty and facilitating access to information that could benefit Beijing or even potentially be leaked to terrorists and transnational criminals through cybercriminals. This is clearly a problem of concern in China, Europe, and the United States, so the matter will need to be closely monitored.
