Security audit raises severe warnings on Chinese smartphone models

guest · Sep 22, 2021

Security audit raises severe warnings on Chinese smartphone models
The audit red-flagged Xiaomi and Huawei phones but gave OnePlus a pass.
September 23, 2021
https://arstechnica.com/information...severe-warnings-on-chinese-smartphone-models/

The Lithuanian National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) recently published a security assessment of three recent-model Chinese-made smartphones—Huawei's P40 5G, Xiaomi's Mi 10T 5G, and OnePlus' 8T 5G. Sufficiently determined US shoppers can find the P40 5G on Amazon and the Mi 10T 5G on Walmart.com—but we will not be providing direct links to those phones, given the results of the NCSC's security audit.

The Xiaomi phone includes software modules specifically designed to leak data to Chinese authorities and to censor media related to topics the Chinese government considers sensitive. The Huawei phone replaces the standard Google Play application store with third-party substitutes the NCSC found to harbor sketchy, potentially malicious repackaging of common applications.
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The OnePlus 8T 5G—arguably, the best-known and most widely marketed phone of the three—was the only one to escape the NCSC's scrutiny without any red flags raised.
Conclusions
Based on the NCSC's findings, there doesn't seem to be any issue with the OnePlus phone—which comes as little surprise, as it's the only brand of the three which hasn't come under repeated, negative scrutiny from non-Chinese administrations.

Particularly adventurous and/or Google-hating consumers might reasonably be interested in Huawei's P40, which seems afflicted more with a lack of malware-preventing guardrails than with actual directly imposed censorship and/or spyware.
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Finally, we'd strongly advise avoiding the Xiaomi Mi 10T—its deactivated but regularly updated blocklist functionality strikes us as a warning of direct authoritarian oversight which should not be lightly ignored.
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(PDF): https://www.nksc.lt/doc/en/analysis/2021-08-23_5G-CN-analysis_env3.pdf

Assessment of cybersecurity of mobile devices supporting 5G technology sold in Lithuania

ANALYSIS OF PRODUCTS MADE BY Huawei, Xiaomi and OnePlus
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guest · Sep 27, 2021

German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) investigates Chinese mobile phones
September 27, 2021
https://securityaffairs.co/wordpress/122604/intelligence/bsi-investigates-chinese-mobile-phones.html

The investigation was requested by both the SPD politician Jens Zimmermann and the CDU digital politician Tankred Schipanski.

The decision of the BSI comes after the Lithuanian cyber defense published a report claiming that some mobile phones that are commercialized by Xiaomi and Huawei revealed an undocumented behavior that was possible to trigger remotely by the Chinese vendors.

“Our recommendation is to not buy new Chinese phones, and to get rid of those already purchased as fast as reasonably possible,” Lithuanian Deputy Defense Minister Margiris Abukevicius told reporters during the unveiling of the report from Lithuania’s National Cyber Security Center.
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“Xiaomi’s devices do not censor communications to or from its users. Xiaomi has never and will never restrict or block any personal behaviors of our smartphone users, such as searching, calling, web browsing or the use of third-party communication software. Xiaomi fully respects and protects the legal rights of all users.” reads the reply of Xiaomi.

A BSI spokesman told Tagesschau that Chinese manufacturers are already excluded from a list of smartphone vendors that can be officially ordered as service phones by the federal authorities.
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Experts fear that Chinese manufactures could have also introduced in their devices hidden features that could give them deep access to any communications through the mobile phones before they were encrypted.
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