Huawei, the subject of a U.S. government ban amid allegations that China might force the company to spy on others, will reveal a bug bounty program for its mobile devices and new HarmonyOS operating system, to top phone hackers in Munich during a secret meetup Nov. 16.
The tech company is likely trying to convince other governments that it is keen on upping the security of its products, according to a report by TechCrunch.
Huawei has been under close scrutiny by the U.S. intelligence community and some members of Congress, who have long feared that products from the company and Chinese firm ZTE Corporation could be leveraged by the Chinese government to spy on American targets.
Amid escalating trade war tensions with China and a lengthy dispute over Huawei in the face of espionage allegations, President Trump declared a national emergency that bans U.S. telecommunications companies from using equipment from foreign firms that could threaten national security.
Previously, the Defense Department instructed its procurers and contractors to stop buying software that may have Chinese or Russian connections to help defend these institutions against a possible cyberattack.
In January Huawei fired Director of Sales Weijing Wang, who had been arrested in Poland on charges of spying for China. The company said he was fired for bringing disrespect to Huawei. By the end of that month U.S. federal prosecutors had filed criminal charges against Huawei, alleging the company stole intellectual property from T-Mobile and violated U.S. sanction orders.
In May, Europe’s Vodafone said it found backdoors in the software contained in Huawei home routers and optical service nodes. Such backdoors could allow Huawei to gain access to Vodafone’s fixed-line network in Italy, according to Vodafone security documents dating from 2009 to 2011.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, maintained that China’s continued “brazen and persistent” actions are evidence that Huawei shouldn’t play a role in the rollout of 5G. “Imagine what could happen if we let them into 5G,” said Pai. “When it comes to 5G and American security, we can’t afford to the take the risk, the stakes are too high.”
