There have been claims in the news that Chinese mobile phone manufacturer, Hauwei, had left a “little” backdoor open when it was involved in developing fixed line internet connections in Italy, on behalf of Vodafone. The implication from the news reports was that this was part of a “hidden agenda” by the Chinese government, aiming to spy on internet users in Europe on a large scale. The problems with the news reports was that they all sounded as if things just happened yesterday. After all, the word “news” implies that it relates to something new.
The news reports were citing an unknown former employee at Vodafone who was reported on events which allegedly took place some 10 years ago. Both Hauwei and Vodafone have denied that there was anything that Hauwei was suspected of doing intentionally to create an unauthorised backdoor.
Like so many internet news reports, the recent news about Hauwei and Vodafone have had big headlines but little substance by which an ordinary internet user, can fairly judge the facts.