The African Union headquarters hack and Australia’s 5G network
In January 2018, France’s Le Monde newspaper published an investigation, based on multiple sources, which found that from January 2012 to January 2017 servers based inside the AU’s headquarters in Addis Ababa were transferring data between 12 midnight and 2 am—every single night—to unknown servers more than 8,000 kilometres away hosted in Shanghai. Following the discovery of what media referred to as ‘data theft’, it was also reported that microphones hidden in desks and walls were detected and removed during a sweep for bugs.
What seems to have been entirely missed in the media coverage at the time was the name of the company that served as the key ICT provider inside the AU’s headquarters.
It was Huawei.
https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/the-african-union-headquarters-hack-and-australias-5g-network/
In what is the first known instance of Huawei being used by the Chinese government as a conduit for intelligence gathering, the national security source said an unnamed “high-risk vendor” - confirmed by The Weekend Australian to be Huawei - had featured in intelligence reporting.
“I am aware of intelligence that indicates that certain high-risk vendors have been asked for assistance by foreign intelligence services,” the source said.
The Weekend Australian has confirmed that the attempted breach related to a foreign network, not an Australian one.
While some governments, including Australia’s, have locked Huawei out of sensitive projects or acquisitions, the risk has until now been regarded as theoretical.
Huawei was one of two companies banned from participation in the construction of Australia’s 5G network, which is expected to be up and running by next year. The other was Chinese firm ZTE.