Venezuela’s president claims US cannot hack Huawei phones

Huawei

Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, has claimed that American intelligence agencies are unable to hack Huawei smartphones. During a press conference on Monday, Maduro displayed a Huawei device gifted by Chinese President Xi Jinping, describing it as “the best phone in the world.”

“The Americans can’t hack it, neither their spy planes, nor their satellites,” Maduro said, holding what appeared to be a Mate X6, Huawei’s foldable phone released in 2024.

Security experts, however, strongly dispute such assertions. A US-based vulnerability researcher told TechCrunch that Huawei devices could be more vulnerable than widely believed, as the company develops both its hardware and its HarmonyOS operating system. “There’s bound to be many more mistakes in their brand-new code than in iOS and Android at this time,” the researcher said, requesting anonymity due to the sensitivity of the topic.

HarmonyOS, like all operating systems, requires constant updates to address security flaws. Huawei issues monthly security patches for certain models, though it notes that some carriers may provide updates only quarterly. In August alone, the company patched 60 vulnerabilities in HarmonyOS, including 13 classified as highly severe. Huawei also maintains dedicated support resources for users affected by malware or hacking attempts. The company did not provide a comment in response to Maduro’s claims.

The US has a documented history of targeting Huawei systems. In 2014, documents leaked by Edward Snowden revealed that the National Security Agency had infiltrated Huawei servers in China and gained extensive access to the company’s headquarters in Shenzhen. This access reportedly allowed US spies to monitor communications and study Huawei products. According to the documents, “many of our targets communicate over Huawei-produced products,” which the NSA sought to exploit to access networks of interest globally.

Although these operations were exposed more than a decade ago, cybersecurity experts believe that US agencies, including the NSA and Cyber Command, continue to identify vulnerabilities in Huawei devices. Earlier this year, China accused the NSA of attempting to attack Chinese critical infrastructure, highlighting ongoing cyber tensions between the two countries.