US Hacking Servers Since 2009, Huawei Alleges Amid Rumours Of Return To Global Smartphone Market

Chinese tech behemoth Huawei has allegedly said its servers are continuously being hacked by the US, according to a report by Nikkei Asia.

Chinese tech behemoth Huawei has allegedly said its servers are continuously being hacked by the US, according to a report by Nikkei Asia. The company has also accused the US of conducting cyberattacks for stealing important data since 2009, amid escalating tensions between Washington and Beijing, the report added. This comes amid reports of Huawei making an attempt to re-enter the mid-range 5G smartphone market after overcoming US sanctions. The US imposed sanctions on Huawei in 2019, citing national security concerns.

Huawei has been restricted since 2019 from accessing chipset-making tools essential for assembling advanced smartphone models, with the company only able to launch limited batches of 5G models using stockpiled chips.

Documents leaked by Edward Snowden about a decade ago showed that the National Security Agency (NSA) infiltrated the servers of Chinese telecoms giant Huawei. The snooping has now been officially acknowledged by Beijing, said a report by South China Morning Post (SCMP).

China's Ministry of State Security released a post on its official WeChat account titled "Revealing key despicable methods by U.S. intelligence agencies in cyberespionage and theft". According to the WeChat post, the US government's efforts against Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies have been highlighted. The post also accuses Washington of having big, influential tech companies install backdoors in software, applications and equipment so it can steal vital data from countries including China and Russia, the report further added.

"In 2009, the Office of Tailored Access Operations started to infiltrate servers at Huawei's headquarters and continued conducting such surveillance operations," the post explained, according to Nikkei Asia.

According to a report by Chinese publication IT Times, Huawei is likely to re-enter the mid-range handset segment with the launch of a 5G variant of Nova model around October or November.

Earlier this year, the US stopped approving licenses for its firm to export most items to Huawei.