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   03/22/2014Font:   
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   Targeting Huawei   
   NSA Spied on Chinese Government and Networking Firm   
      
   REUTERS   
   Former Chinese President Hu Jintao (left) and his successor, Xi Jinping   
   (right): Politicians in Beijing were targets of NSA espionage.   
   According to documents viewed by SPIEGEL, America'a NSA intelligence agency   
   put considerable efforts into spying on Chinese politicians and firms. One   
   major target was Huawei, a company that is fast becoming a major Internet   
   player.   
      
   The American government conducted a major intelligence offensive against   
   China, with targets including the Chinese government and networking company   
   Huawei, according to documents from former NSA worker Edward Snowden that have   
   been viewed by SPIEGEL and    
   the New York Times. Among the American intelligence service's targets were   
   former Chinese President Hu Jintao, the Chinese Trade Ministry, banks, as well   
   as telecommunications companies.   
      
   But the NSA made a special effort to target Huawei. With 150,000 employees and   
   EURO 28 billion ($38.6 billion) in annual revenues, the company is the world's   
   second largest network equipment supplier. At the beginning of 2009, the NSA   
   began an extensive    
   operation, referred to internally as "Shotgiant," against the company, which   
   is considered a major competitor to US-based Cisco. The company produces   
   smartphones and tablets, but also mobile phone infrastructure, WLAN routers   
   and fiber optic cable -- the    
   kind of technology that is decisive in the NSA's battle for data supremacy.   
      
   A special unit with the US intelligence agency succeeded in infiltrating   
   Huwaei's network and copied a list of 1,400 customers as well as internal   
   documents providing training to engineers on the use of Huwaei products, among   
   other things.   
      
   Source Code Breached   
      
   According to a top secret NSA presentation, NSA workers not only succeeded in   
   accessing the email archive, but also the secret source code of individual   
   Huwaei products. Software source code is the holy grail of computer companies.   
   Because Huawei    
   directed all mail traffic from its employees through a central office in   
   Shenzhen, where the NSA had infiltrated the network, the Americans were able   
   to read a large share of the email sent by company workers beginning in   
   January 2009, including messages    
   from company CEO Ren Zhengfei and Chairwoman Sun Yafang.   
      
   "We currently have good access and so much data that we don't know what to do   
   with it," states one internal document. As justification for targeting the   
   company, an NSA document claims that "many of our targets communicate over   
   Huawei produced products,    
   we want to make sure that we know how to exploit these products." The agency   
   also states concern that "Huawei's widespread infrastructure will provide the   
   PRC (People's Republic of China) with SIGINT capabilities." SIGINT is agency   
   jargon for signals    
   intelligence. The documents do not state whether the agency found information   
   indicating that to be the case.   
      
   The operation was conducted with the involvement of the White House   
   intelligence coordinator and the FBI. One document states that the threat   
   posed by Huawei is "unique".   
      
   The agency also stated in a document that "the intelligence community   
   structures are not suited for handling issues that combine economic,   
   counterintelligence, military influence and telecommunications infrastructure   
   from one entity."   
      
   Fears of Chinese Influence on the Net   
      
   The agency notes that understanding how the firm operates will pay dividends   
   in the future. In the past, the network infrastructure business has been   
   dominated by Western firms, but the Chinese are working to make American and   
   Western firms "less    
   relevant". That Chinese push is beginning to open up technology standards that   
   were long determined by US companies, and China is controlling an increasing   
   amount of the flow of information on the net.   
      
   In a statement, Huawei spokesman Bill Plummer criticized the spying measures.   
   "If it is true, the irony is that exactly what they are doing to us is what   
   they have always charged that the Chinese are doing through us," he said. "If   
   such espionage has    
   been truly conducted, then it is known that the company is independent and has   
   no unusual ties to any government and that knowledge should be relayed   
   publicly to put an end to an era of mis- and disinformation."   
      
   Responding to the allegations, NSA spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said she should   
   could not comment on specific collection activities or on the intelligence   
   operations of specific foreign countries, "but I can tell you that our   
   intelligence activities are    
   focused on the national security needs of our country." She also said, "We do   
   not give intelligence we collect to US companies to enhance their   
   international competitiveness or increase their bottom line."   
      
   Editor's note: A longer version of this story will appear in German in the   
   issue of SPIEGEL to be published on Monday.   
      
      
      
      
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