The FBI has accused Huawei of spying for China and installing equipment that could disrupt nuclear operations communications.
The US and its allies have accused Huawei of spying for China for years and banned the company from participating in their wireless networks. While all Chinese companies are required to cooperate with Beijing, Huawei has long been seen as having a much closer relationship with the Chinese government than most.
According to a CNN exclusive, the FBI discovered evidence that Huawei installed equipment in locations where it could monitor and disrupt Department of Defense (DOD) communications, including those of US Strategic Command, which is tasked with oversight of the US nuclear arsenal.
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According to the report, the FBI has known of the issue at least as far back as the Obama administration and has been investigating the risks. Huawei has, per usual, denied it is or has the capacity to engage in the spying it’s being accused of. The FBI insists the company is capable of capturing commercial traffic, as well as the restricted airwaves used by the DOD.
“This gets into some of the most sensitive things we do,” said one former FBI official with knowledge of the investigation. “It would impact our ability for essentially command and control with the nuclear triad. “That goes into the ‘BFD’ category.”
“If it is possible for that to be disrupted, then that is a very bad day,” the person added.
Huawei has continuously maintained it is being framed by US intelligence agencies and is innocent of the accusations against it. With these bombshell revelations, however, the company is going to have a hard time maintaining that stance.
