China has accused the United States of continuously infiltrating the servers of the tech giant “Huawei” since 2009, as part of an extensive campaign to steal data from Chinese targets.
China’s Ministry of State Security, in a post on its official WeChat account on Wednesday, stated that the specialized access operations unit under the National Security Agency had conducted attacks in 2009 and subsequently monitored the servers continuously.
It revealed that the Chinese Center for Urgent Computer Virus Response discovered a spyware virus called “Scandata” while investigating a cyberattack on a technical university in the northwest of the country last year.
The virus was traced back to the US National Security Agency, and the United States managed to compromise tens of thousands of Chinese devices and steal a massive amount of critical data.
Cyberattacks have been a point of tension between Washington and Beijing, with the latter accusing its political rival of orchestrating attacks against Chinese targets since Edward Snowden made sensational claims about US espionage. Researchers in Washington and the cybersecurity sector have pointed to state-sponsored Chinese attacks against Western entities.
“Huawei,” a leading supplier of communication equipment, smartphones, and other advanced technologies, has faced repeated criticism from Washington in recent years due to concerns related to cybersecurity and espionage.
The allegations of continuous cyber intrusion into Huawei’s servers by the United States underscore the ongoing tensions in the realm of cybersecurity between the two global superpowers, the US and China.
Huawei, a Chinese multinational technology company, has been at the center of international scrutiny, particularly from the United States. Washington has repeatedly expressed concerns about Huawei’s alleged ties to the Chinese government and its potential involvement in cyber espionage. These concerns have led to restrictions on Huawei’s involvement in 5G infrastructure development in several countries.
The cyber domain has become a battleground for espionage, intellectual property theft, and national security concerns, with both the US and China accusing each other of cyberattacks. This situation has prompted discussions about the need for international norms and regulations in cyberspace to address these growing challenges.
