FBI's probe finds Huawei equipment can intercept communication on US nukes: Report

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has discovered that Chinese telecom giant Huawei’s equipment in the Midwest can disrupt the communications of the US Department of Defence or Pentagon, including the force that monitors the nuclear weapons of the country. More than a dozen sources revealed to CNN that during an FBI investigation, the officials found out that Huawei’s technology placed on cell towers in the Midwest region, near the US military bases, has the capabilities to hinder the US Strategic Command’s communications. 

The media outlet quoted a former FBI official as saying, “This gets into some of the most sensitive things we do…It would impact our ability for essentially command and control with the nuclear triad” while adding, “If it is possible for that to be disrupted, then that is a very bad day”. 

However, media outlet’s sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, also said that it was a challenge to gather proof of China’s Huawei intercepting any data and then sending it to another nation. Therefore, it is reportedly unclear whether China did actually collect any information from Huawei's equipment. 

China, as per the news source, has categorically denied the efforts to spy on the United States. Even Huawei rejected that its products have the ability to tap into the US Department of Defence’s communications spectrum, in a statement to the outlet. 

Former FBI officials describe probe’s findings as ‘watershed moment’

Remarkably, the FBI investigation cited by CNN dates back to former US President Barack Obama’s administration. Former FBI officials also described these findings as a ‘watershed moment’, as per the report. The investigation is said to be so discrete that some senior US policymakers were not even briefed on its existence until 2019, revealed two sources to the American media outlet. In the fall of that same year, the Federal Communications Commission introduced a fresh rule banning small telecoms from using Huawei and other Chinese made-equipment. One of the former officials was quoted as saying, “The existence of the investigation at the highest levels turned some doves into hawks”. 

Later, in 2020, Congress went on to approve $1.9 billion to remove Huawei and ZTE cellular technology across rural America. The media report stated that even two years later, Chinese firms’ equipment is yet to be removed as rural telecom companies are waiting for federal reimbursement money.  A probe was opened into Huawei by Commerce Department in 2021 when US President Joe Biden took over the office and is still ongoing, as per the report.

Image: AP