U.S. Charges Huawei with Stealing Trade Secrets from 6 Companies

The US Department of Justice (DoJ) and the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI) charged Huawei with
racketeering and conspiring to steal trade secrets from six US
firms, in a significant escalation of a lawsuit against the Chinese
telecom giant that began last year.

Accusing Huawei and its affiliates of “using fraud and deception
to misappropriate sophisticated technology from US counterparts,”
the new
charges^[2] allege the company of
offering bonuses to employees who obtained “confidential
information” from its competitors.

The indictment adds to a list of two other charges
filed by the US government last year, including violating US
sanctions on Iran and stealing technology from T-Mobile — called
Tappy — that’s used to test smartphone durability.
^[3]

The development is the latest salvo fired by the Trump
administration in its year-long fight against the networking
equipment maker, which it deems a threat to national security.

“The misappropriated intellectual property included trade secret
information and copyrighted works, such as source code and user
manuals for internet routers, antenna technology, and robot testing
technology,” the unsealed federal indictment alleged.

The alleged theft enabled Huawei illegally obtain nonpublic
technology relating to internet router source code, cellular
antenna technology, and robotics, giving the company an unfair
competitive advantage, prosecutors said.

Although the six US firms are unnamed in the indictment, it’s
suspected^[4]
that the companies in question are Cisco Systems, Motorola
Solutions, Fujitsu, Quintel Technology, T-Mobile, and CNEX
Labs.

The report further accuses Huawei of engaging in business with
countries subject to US, EU, and UN sanctions, including Iran and
North Korea, as well as for trying to conceal its involvement.
Huawei is alleged to have used code names for these countries, such
as “A2” for Iran, and “A9” for North Korea.

Huawei, for its part, has denied all the charges. “This new
indictment is part of the Justice Department’s attempt to
irrevocably damage Huawei’s reputation and its business for reasons
related to competition rather than law enforcement,” the company
was quoted as saying to the BBC.
^[5]

The fresh charges against Huawei also come days after The Wall
Street Journal reported that
US officials had evidence of the company employing “back doors”
that allowed it to secretly access sensitive and personal
information.

The company, however, fired back against
the allegations^[7]
of spying, stating that the US itself has a long history of spying
on its allies and adversaries, referencing a report by The Washington
Post^[8] that detailed how the
Central Investigative Agency (CIA) bought a company called Crypto
AG and used it to intercept foreign governments’ communications for
decades.

The ongoing tussle against Huawei, which is also seen as a
battle for tech supremacy between the US and China, has ensnared
many countries, with the Trump administration actively dissuading
its partners such as the UK from using Huawei’s technology for 5G
wireless networks.

In spite of the mounting pressure, the UK last month announced^[9]
it would continue using Huawei’s equipment but limiting its role to
building peripheral parts of the 5G and full-fiber network. France,
likewise, has said it won’t exclude the
firm^[10] from supplying
equipment for 5G networks in the country.

^[1][6]