Chinese telecom equipment maker Huawei’s logo is shown at its booth at MWC Barcelona, the world’s largest mobile show, on Feb. 26, 2019. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, June 1 (Korea Bizwire) — One of Huawei Technologies Co.’s foreign branch websites has been used as a malware platform, raising concerns over Chinese tech titan’s security management.
An individual referred to only as Chae, a South Korean netizen, recently discovered that an unknown IP had attempted FTP access to his Network Attached Storage, but was blocked after committing 10 password errors.
Looking up the IP address on Abuse IP DB, an IP search platform, he found that the address belonged to Huawei’s German branch in Dusseldorf, and had been used 56 times since November of last year to commit unauthorized access.
The company confirmed that the IP address is owned by Huawei Technologies Deutschland GmbH, and that it has been used as a platform for malware.
For Chae, the illicit attempt was blocked to prevent further infringement on privacy. Other cases of abuse via Huawei Technologies Deutschland’s IP have not yet been reported.
Security sources suggest that it is a rare case to exploit the IP address held by a global tech firm such as Huawei for malware attacks, which reveals the poor quality of the company’s security.
IP addresses owned by small and medium sized firms or organizations are more likely to be targeted by hackers to be used as malware platforms.
“Global tech firms, even if their websites are attacked by hackers, tend to fix the issues immediately,” a security expert said. “This case could be indicative of Huawei’s negligent security management or a lack of technological action.”
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
