Espionage accusations expand security questions for Netherlands organisations using Chinese seller’s equipment and services
By
- Kim Loohuis
Revealed: 03 Jun 2021 15: 06
A secret assert from 2010 – now within the hands of Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant – shows that Chinese seller Huawei had free rating staunch of entry to to phone numbers and calls on the community of Netherlands telecom provider KPN.
The firm also had unlimited rating staunch of entry to to hundreds of hundreds of buyer particulars of KPN’s subsidiary, Telfort. The Dutch Parliament has requested questions and the telecom agency has launched an investigation.
Dutch intelligence service AIVD has lengthy been inquisitive about Chinese espionage. As early as 2008, the organisation noticed an expand within the sequence of cyber attacks from China on the Dutch authorities and businesses. Ministries and excessive-tech companies namely were favourite targets.
On the assorted hand, Dutch telecom companies are investing closely in equipment from Huawei since the seller’s equipment is extra mark efficient than that of its Western opponents, Nokia and Ericsson. Essentially, when KPN subsidiary Telfort’s buyer and invoicing system wanted changing and moderately a pair of quotes had been on the table, Huawei became chanced on to be asking most efficient 25% of the worth of the assorted services, in step with confidential documents viewed by de Volkskrant.
The newspaper also has in its possession a secret assert that became drawn up by Capgemini in 2010 after KPN requested the consultancy agency, in 2009, to habits a possibility prognosis in preparation for the entire outsourcing to Huawei of the management of Chinese community equipment in KPN’s cellular community.
The final assert talked about: “Huawei personnel are ready to listen in on unauthorised, uncontrolled and unlimited KPN cellular numbers, both internal KPN structures and from China. Huawei knows which numbers are being tapped and the firm positive components unauthorised rating staunch of entry to to the coronary heart of the cellular community from China. In doing so, the firm is in breach of its agreements with KPN.”
At the time, KPN’s cellular community had 6.5 million subscribers, and additionally it’s a ways old school by the Dutch authorities.
Uncontrolled and unauthorised rating staunch of entry to
Capgemini’s be taught shows that in 2009, six Chinese Huawei technicians at KPN headquarters had been managing the equipment at the core of the cellular community. They had been easily ready to scrutinize into the coronary heart of the community and rating staunch of entry to unencrypted info flows. The agreements with KPN relating to rating staunch of entry to to this phase of the community are strict, but the assert shows that Huawei did no longer adhere to these procedures and had uncontrolled and unauthorised rating staunch of entry to.
The Capgemini researchers also chanced on that the six Chinese employees did no longer most efficient fill rating staunch of entry to to the decision snarl material of intercepted phone numbers, but additionally worked with a programme that enabled them to listen to in on every phone name via KPN. Because no records had been kept of when Huawei listened in and the utility old school became fully in Chinese, the investigators may presumably get out whether or no longer and the arrangement in which in most cases calls had been tapped.
A provide steered de Volkskrant: “They’ll merely tap numbers, they’re going to hear in wherever on this planet, KPN had no concept what Huawei became doing on their community.”
A confidential KPN assert from 2011, which will most seemingly be within the hands of de Volkskrant, shows that Huawei had unlimited rating staunch of entry to to the client info of hundreds of hundreds of subscribers of Telfort, having put in moderately a pair of technology in that firm’s buyer and invoicing system to connect the knowledge.
In accordance to Bart Jacobs, professor of pc security at Radboud University in Nijmegen, this shows how Chinese companies work. “That is it looks how they ship their utility,” he steered de Volkskrant. “And that’s the place we mute fill the biggest lesson to be taught now – Huawei itself looks to fill a deep presence within the systems it delivers.”
Sico van der Meer, cyber security researcher at the Netherlands’ Clingendael Institute for Worldwide Family members, also sees this as proof of how the Chinese can operate. “For years, intelligence agencies were asserting that Huawei and other Chinese telecom companies are taking part in espionage, but concrete evidence has persistently been lacking,” he steered news service NOS. Nonetheless the bizarre Dutch KPN buyer does no longer fill something else to grief, he added.
“The Chinese are after enterprise secrets, military secrets, say secrets,” Van der Meer steered NOS. “The conversations of celebrated potentialities are no longer relevant to them.”
Rock-bottom prices
The truth that Chinese companies provide their products and services at rock-bottom prices makes them economically perfect-in search of to Dutch organisations, he added. “China affords products at rock-bottom prices. That is their approach – to push opponents out of the market. As well, the technology works effectively, but with a backdoor.”
Because of the the possibility of espionage, the Dutch cupboard determined at the hand over of 2019 to exclude Huawei from the core of the Netherlands’ new 5G community. The Chinese firm could merely most efficient present formulation for the radio and antenna community – which isn’t any luxurious, in step with cyber security specialist Ronald Prins of Hunt & Hackett.
He steered the NOS: “Quickly there will most seemingly be no Western celebration left to provide telecom equipment. After 5G comes 6G, and you watch that China is already pondering this by. We are becoming so technologically relying on that country that we are also relinquishing the operational facet due to the the low costs. It is a ways exactly these reports that show you shouldn’t desire that.”
Prins also thinks the Dutch intelligence services must mute stop extra, since the telecom sector is now not any exception in this respect. “Even within the sectors the place we excel within the Netherlands, a lot like the agricultural or maritime sector, of us are spying to prefer our tips,” he talked about.
Because it’s most efficient a pair of days since the first article looked in de Volkskrant, Huawei is mute managing equipment within the core of the Netherlands’ cellular community – a truth that moderately a pair of KPN sources confirmed to the newspaper. In accordance to 1 provide, Huawei equipment works in this form of technique that phase of its management must persistently be handled by the Chinese firm.
Govt worried
The Dutch authorities reacted to this with shock. “First Telfort, now KPN. The phobia of eavesdropping by Huawei proves effectively-founded over all over again,” MP Lisa van Ginneken steered de Volkskrant. Fellow MP Kathelijne Buitenweg put parliamentary inquiries to outgoing Christian Democratic Alliance say secretary of business affairs Mona Keijzer, whose portfolio involves telecoms, and outgoing justice and security minister Ferd Grapperhaus.
KPN talked about in a assertion: “No seller has unauthorised, uncontrolled and unlimited rating staunch of entry to to the networks and systems, or is ready to listen in on KPN potentialities or stumble on tap knowledge.”
The Capgemini assert became exactly the clarification why KPN determined against entire outsourcing of community and systems management to Huawei, in step with the organisation.
Huawei itself has persistently denied being challenging about espionage. In an interview with Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad early this year, Michael Yang, the brand new Dutch managing director of Huawei, talked about: “Let me originate one ingredient determined: there has never been a shred of evidence that Huawei is challenging about to any extent further or less security breach by our equipment and community technology. Spying is something we never stop and never will stop within the lengthy crawl.”
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