[LINK] Huawei was able to eavesdrop on Dutch mobile network KPN: Report

[Kim Holburn]

https://nltimes.nl/2021/04/17/huawei-able-eavesdrop-dutch-mobile-network-kpn-report

>
>   Huawei was able to eavesdrop on Dutch mobile network KPN: Report
>
> Chinese technology company Huawei would have had free access to KPN's mobile network in the past and could eavesdrop on all 
> conversations. De Volkskrant writes this based on a secret report from 2010 which their editorial staff reviewed.
>
> According to the newspaper, Huawei was able to eavesdrop on mobile numbers from the telecom provider at that time. This also 
> included the phones of the then Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, various ministers, and Chinese dissidents. Huawei also knew 
> which numbers were tapped by police and intelligence services.
>
> Huawei’s says it never acted inappropriately by abusing its position in the Netherlands. KPN says in a response that it has no 

> indications that lines were tapped or that customer data was stolen.
>
> KPN used Huawei's technology in 2009. Six Chinese employees of the company worked at the then head office in The Hague. In that 
> year, the telecom provider asked Capgemini researchers to analyze any risks associated with Huawei and how the Chinese company 
> behaved within KPN. The domestic security service AIVD had already warned KPN several times about the risk of espionage by Huawei.
>
> The conclusions turned out to be so alarming that the internal report was kept secret. "The continued existence of KPN Mobile is 
> in serious danger because permits may be revoked or the government and businesses may give up their confidence in KPN if it 
> becomes known that the Chinese government can eavesdrop on KPN mobile numbers and shut down the network", de Volkskrant quotes the 
> report. At the time, KPN's mobile network had 6.5 million subscribers.
>
>
>         Unauthorized access from China
>
> The Capgemini report stated that Huawei staff, both from within KPN buildings and from China, could eavesdrop on unauthorized, 
> uncontrolled, and unlimited KPN mobile numbers. The company gained unauthorized access to the heart of the mobile network from 
> China. How often that happened is not clear because it was not recorded 
anywhere.
>
> KPN informed the news source ANP on Saturday that "it has never been established in all years that customer data was stolen by 
> Huawei from our networks or our customer systems, or that it has been tapped." If it had, the company said it would have 
> "certainly informed the appropriate authorities and our customers."
>
> ”Huawei employees have not had unauthorized access to KPN's network and data, nor have they extracted data from that network. 
> Huawei has at all times worked under the explicit authorization of KPN,” the Chinese technology firm said. “This applied to both 

> employees of Huawei and the Huawei employees hired by KPN to support its activities.”
>
>
>         Outsourcing
>
> “Since our start in the Netherlands 15 years ago, we have never 
been held accountable by the government authorities for any 
> unauthorized acts,” Huawei states in a release published Saturday.
>
> Based on the Capgemini report, KPN decided to refrain from outsourcing the full maintenance of the mobile core network. To this 
> day, the telecom company maintains its mobile core network itself, with 
the help of Western suppliers. To tackle the risks in the 
> systems of the network, KPN said it was implementing an improvement plan.
>
> De Volkskrant reported last month that the Chinese company also had unlimited access to the customer data of KPN subsidiary 
> Telfort, and Huawei at that time also denied that its staff acted unethically at any point in time.
>


-- 
Kim Holburn
IT Network & Security Consultant
+61 404072753
mailto:kim at holburn.net  aim://kimholburn
skype://kholburn - PGP Public Key on request