huawei 3 670x330 - FBI, CIA, NSA Chiefs Warn Americans to Not Buy Huawei Smartphones

FBI, CIA, NSA Chiefs Warn Americans to Not Buy Huawei Smartphones

While the US government is reportedly in the process of introducing a bill to prevent government officials from using smartphones made by Chinese players like Huawei and ZTE, six top U.S. intelligence chiefs, including CIA, FBI, NSA, have advised Americans to not use products or services of Huawei, according to a report by CNBC.

The reason is simply described as Huawei being “effectively an arm of the Chinese government” by politicians, according to The Verge. Citing concerns around cyber espionage, the report said, “The US intelligence community has long been wary of Huawei, which was founded by a former engineer in China’s People’s Liberation Army.”

FBI Director Chris Wray told CNBC, “We’re deeply concerned about the risks of allowing any company or entity that is beholden to foreign governments that don’t share our values to gain positions of power inside our telecommunications networks.”

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He further added, “It provides the capacity to maliciously modify or steal information. And it provides the capacity to conduct undetected espionage.” Huawei in its defence said, “It poses no greater cybersecurity risk than any ICT vendor.”

Huawei is facing a hard time to gain traction in the American market primarily due to the resistance from the US authorities and the carriers alike. Recently, a partnership with AT&T was called off at the last moment.

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