2023-08-19 03:36:23
Huawei espionage affair has consequences for Switzerland
The Chinese network supplier is said to have deployed spies in Denmark. This business practice displeases Swiss politicians, since Huawei has a strong presence in this country.
In this country, Swisscom as well as Sunrise and Salt use Huawei equipment in their fixed network or in mobile communications: Installation of a Sunrise 5G mobile communications antenna in Zurich.
Photo: Christian Beutler (Keystone)
A spy scandal shook Denmark this summer. It’s regarding the Danish telecom group TDC, the Chinese network supplier Huawei and its competitor Ericsson from Sweden. As the Bloomberg news agency reports, Huawei is said to have spied on TDC in order to have better cards once morest the competitor in the race for a lucrative order for the fast 5G mobile network.
Huawei is said to have used these dubious methods despite the company offering a so-called non-spying deal to the Danish government. Huawei likes to use such agreements to dispel doubts regarding the credibility and integrity of the company. Germany and the UK have also been offered a non-espionage deal.
Huawei’s Swiss national company put such an agreement up for discussion in 2019. However, no concrete agreement was reached. Huawei confirms this information.
Because of its proximity to the communist regime, the global market leader in network technology is suspected, especially in the USA, Canada and Australia, of tapping telephone calls and reading data traffic on the infrastructure built in the West.
In this country, Swisscom as well as Sunrise and Salt use Huawei equipment in their fixed network or in mobile communications. The Chinese’s most prestigious customer is Sunrise, the country’s second largest provider, which built its 5G network together with Huawei.
The affair in Denmark raises the question of how much Huawei’s guarantees are still worth in the end. New findings on the incident suggest that the company is deliberately playing a double game. “You can trust Huawei,” said Yang Lan in a December 2018 letter to the Defense Committee of the Danish Parliament. “I want to assure you that Huawei complies with all applicable laws and regulations under which the company operates.”
The reason for the letter is that TDC has advertised an order worth the equivalent of 175 million francs. It’s regarding upgrading the mobile network to 5G. However, as it later turns out, Huawei managed to get a TDC engineer to reveal information regarding the offer from Swedish competitor Ericsson.
There is also talk of shadowing other TDC employees and the use of bugs and drones. So it says in a confidential report by TDC, which investigated the events surrounding the 2019 bidding race and quoted from Bloomberg.
Eye-catching last minute offer
The whole thing blew up because Huawei made an offer at the last minute that was suddenly lower than that of Ericsson. In their previous offers, however, the Chinese had always asked for more than the Swedes. This is ringing alarm bells at TDC.
Swiss federal politicians express their displeasure. Although he has no reliable knowledge of espionage once morest Swiss telecom operators, says Graubünden SP National Councilor Jon Pult, President of the National Council’s Telecommunications Commission. “But it wouldn’t surprise me,” he says, referring to Huawei.
He is once morest Huawei’s business in Switzerland: Jon Pult is President of the National Council’s Telecommunications Commission.
Photo: Alessandro della Valle (Keystone)
The company is an instrument of the Chinese Communist Party. “For this reason alone I am once morest considering Huawei as a supplier of elements of our critical infrastructure,” says Pult. In Parliament, he advocates that the Confederation can ban the use of network parts if their providers are directly or indirectly controlled by the government of another state. “I think that’s the case with Huawei,” Pult said.
For the Nidwaldner FDP Council of States Hans Wicki, President of the Council of States Telecommunications Commission, the affair in Denmark “certainly damaged the credibility” of Huawei. He calls for a “zero-trust approach” towards suppliers from local telecom providers. This is the only way to prevent data leakage from the networks.
The so-called zero trust model is a security concept that fundamentally distrusts all services, users and devices. No distinction is made inside or outside your own network. All users or services must prove their authenticity before they can access an infrastructure.
Sunrise rules out espionage
Sunrise, Huawei’s most important customer, rules out having been the victim of similar machinations as in Denmark. “Sunrise was not and is not spied on by Huawei,” says a company spokesman. Nevertheless, the revelations have consequences. “Sunrise addresses such reports in regular contacts.” Sunrise operates a company-wide cyber security management system that does not focus on individual suppliers. However, no one can “preclude an attack by any third country with intelligence means via any components”.
Huawei denies any wrongdoing in Denmark. A spokesman for the situation in Switzerland says that the company takes the concerns of its customers “in terms of security and trustworthiness very seriously”.
In Denmark, Huawei gambled away the trust of TDC and the public. Unsurprisingly, the order worth millions went to Ericsson.
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