Chinese-made modules in various devices could be quietly gathering data for their creators in Beijing, and lawmakers want the FCC to act.
, out of the 5G infrastructure in the United States. While the measures against those companies drew wide attention—and denials of any harmful activities from the Chinese firms—the concerns over Chinese-made modules in sensitive equipment made by lesser-known companies such as Quectel have been little reported.
Data from the cellular modules represents a potential"goldmine" for Chinese intelligence, which could analyze information collected from millions of connected devices for insights into what is happening in the U.S. at times of national crisis—or at any other time—according to engineers, former diplomats and intelligence officials.
The sensitive devices the Chinese-made modules are in could even be sabotaged en masse to help destabilize the U.S. in the event of a war, either by switching them off or — more subtly—degrading their performance, experts say. AT&T, which runs the FirstNet Network under contract from the federal government, audited Chinese-made modules in 2018, the company's head of FirstNet operations, Scott Agnew, toldBefore being allowed on the network, devices undergo a battery of more than 3,500 tests, he added,"including examining firmware and data transports."declined to comment on the risk of data transmission to China.
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