Status: 09/24/2021 2:44 p.m.
The Federal Office for Information Security is launching an investigation against Chinese smartphone manufacturers. This is how the BSI reacts to demands from politics.
After the Lithuanian cyber defense warned of security gaps and built-in censorship functions in Chinese mobile phones, the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) has now initiated its own investigations, as a BSI spokesman for the German Press Agency confirmed. Both the SPD politician Jens Zimmermann and the CDU digital politician Tankred Schipanski had demanded that the BSI follow up on the clues.
The BSI received the report from the Lithuanian cyber defense on Wednesday, in which three specific smartphone models were analyzed. These were the Huawei P40 5G, the Xiaomi Mi 10T 5G and the OnePlus 8T 5G. The cybersecurity center NKSC (Nacionalinio Kibernetinio Saugumo Centro) directed the most serious allegations against Xiaomi.
The BSI spokesman said that neither Xiaomi nor any other manufacturer from China was on the list of smartphone brands that can be officially ordered as service phones by the federal authorities. However, the BSI cannot rule out that a Xiaomi smartphone is still in use through business use of privately purchased devices.
Xiaomi far back allegations
The state center for cybersecurity in Vilnius had especially criticized a device from the Chinese manufacturer Xiaomi because it was technically able to censor certain content on the built-in web browser. The censorship filter was not active, but could be switched on remotely. At the manufacturer Huawei, the Lithuanians complained that the app store also links to sources that the agency has classified as unsafe. In contrast, the NKSC did not find any defects in the OnePlus device.
A spokesman for Xiaomi said his company’s devices did not censor communications with or from their users. “Xiaomi has and will never restrict or prevent personal activities of its smartphone users, such as searching, calling, surfing the Internet or using third-party communication software.”
“Take allegations seriously”
Rüdiger Trost, security expert from F-Secure Germany, told the dpa news agency that the allegations must be taken seriously. “I think it is more than likely that there are opportunities for Chinese authorities to directly access nationally produced smartphones. And I have no doubt that China is willing to use technical means to exercise censorship.”
If the corporations, the Chinese state or hackers had such deep access, they would not only be able to read communications before they were encrypted, for example in the case of e-mails, WhatsApp or even Signal. “You could even upload data and in this way discredit a dissident, for example. You could manipulate your smartphone in such a way that it appears like a spy from another state,” said Trost.
Warning of general suspicion
Thorsten Urbanski, spokesman for the security company Eset, warned against placing all smartphones from China under general suspicion. Manipulated devices have “been a major security problem for many years”. “More than five years ago there were the first cases of devices on their way to Europe with manipulated firmware and preinstalled spyware apps on the market.”
With the manipulations at the time, extensive data could have been stolen. It was also possible to monitor the owner. In many cases, the manipulations did not come from the manufacturer himself.
Second most successful smartphone manufacturer
It cannot be ruled out that the warning will at least weigh on the business of the Chinese technology group. In the financial markets, many investors reacted by selling shares.
Xiaomi only reported on the business situation at the end of August. In the second quarter, company sales, boosted by the high demand for smartphones, rose by 64 percent to the equivalent of 11.55 billion euros. Xiaomi is now the world’s number two smartphone manufacturer. Only Samsung is more successful, with Apple in third place.
Xiaomi benefited from US sanctions against domestic competitor Huawei, among other things. The US accuses Huawei of close ties to Chinese authorities and warns of the danger of espionage and sabotage. US President Joe Biden ordered a general review of Chinese companies. Huawei rejects both allegations.