There are mounting concerns among British officials on Huawei Technologies as the tech company was found to have been using old software component. The said component, which was sold by a firm based in the United States, has been linked to numerous Chinese spying concerns.
Anonymous sources said Huawei is still using the VxWorks operating system which is made by Wind River Systems based in California. The sources who spoke on condition of anonymity said Huawei is using a version of VxWorks will no longer receive security patches and updates from Wind River in 2020.
The problem is that all the products that work with the system that is embedded in U.K. telecoms networks will still be operational. This means that these products will be running in insecure lines, making U.K. vulnerable to cyber attacks.
"Third-party software, including critical security components, on various component boards will come out of existing long-term support in 2020, even though the Huawei end of life date for the products containing this component is often longer," read a classified report seen by Reuters.
The exact Huawei products affected by security problems are not readily determinable, according to Reuters. It is not also readily distinguishable whether Huawei has addressed the loophole.
The sources, however, clarified that the problem with the VxWorks security does not appear to be intentional; neither there is any indication that the software itself is a security risk.
A spokesman for Huawei declined to comment on VxWorks specifically but ensured that Huawei prioritizes cybersecurity.
"We will continue to actively improve our engineering processes and risk management systems," the spokesman said.
The United States, together with Australia, has been alleging that Huawei's products can be a platform to facilitate Chinese espionage operations. Huawei has long been denying these claims.
On Aug. 4, the Democratic National Committee warned Democrats running in November's midterms not to use devices produced by Huawei and ZTE, CNN reported.
"It's very important that party and campaign workers not use ZTE or Huawei devices, even if the price is low or free... please make sure that you are not using or purchasing ZTE or Huawei devices anywhere within your staff - for personal or work-related use," Bob Lord, the DNC's chief security, wrote in a correspondence sent to Democratic officials. In February, the CIA, NSA, FBI and the Defense Intelligence Agency told a Senate Intelligence Committee that Huawei posed a security threat to consumers in the United States. Huawei denied the allegation.
The Pentagon is currently banning all software vendors from Russia and China.
