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SECURITY

German probe opens into suspected internal spying at Airbus

German prosecutors have opened an investigation into suspected internal spying by employees of European aviation giant Airbus over two arms projects, sources have said.

Published: 19 September 2019 09:06 CEST
German probe opens into suspected internal spying at Airbus
An Airbus sign at the Ottobrunn site near Munich. Photo: DPA

The suspicions arose “a few weeks ago”, and the company has alerted the authorities in the southern German city of Munich, an Airbus source said.

“Some of our employees had documents that they shouldn't have had,” the source said.

The employees work in the Munich-based Programme Line Communications, Intelligence and Security (CIS), which handles cybersecurity and related activities.

Airbus said it was conducting an “ongoing internal review with the support of an external law firm” in the case.

“The company is fully cooperating with relevant authorities to resolve the matter,” it said in a statement.

It said it had “self-declared to German authorities potential wrongdoings by several employees with respect to certain customer documents relating to two future German procurement projects” handled by CIS.

Munich prosecutors could not be reached for comment late Wednesday.

The German daily Bild reported that around 20 Airbus employees were immediately suspended and that investigators had seized files and computers.

Bild said the employees had obtained secret files of the German army involving the acquisition of a communication system, among other subjects.

The army disciplined one employee, Bild reported.

READ ALSO: Airbus chief warns of significant penalties from bribery probes

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SECURITY

Swedish Huawei ban is legal, court rules

A Swedish ban on Chinese telecoms company Huawei was confirmed in court on Tuesday, citing the country's security as a just reason for banning its equipment in a 5G rollout.

Published: 23 June 2021 07:14 CEST
Swedish Huawei ban is legal, court rules
Photo: AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

The administrative court in Stockholm ruled that the decision of the Swedish telecoms authority, PTS, to ban the use of equipment from Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE in a new Swedish 5G telecom network last October — a move that irked Beijing — was legal.

Equipment already installed must also be removed by January 1st, 2025.

“Sweden’s security is an important reason and the administrative court has considered that it’s only the security police and the military that together have a full picture when it comes to the security situation and threats against Sweden,” judge Ulrika Melin said in a statement.

Huawei denounced the ruling, but did not say whether it would appeal.

“We are of course noting that there has been no evidence of any wrongdoings by Huawei which is being used as basis for this verdict, it is purely based on assumption,” Kenneth Fredriksen, the company’s vice-president for Central, Eastern Europe and the Nordic region, told AFP.

Huawei will now evaluate the decision and the “see what kind of actions we will take to protect our rights,” Fredriksen added.

After the UK in the summer of 2020, Sweden became the second country in Europe and the first in the EU to explicitly ban Huawei from almost all of the network infrastructure needed to run its 5G network.

Beijing had warned that PTS’ decision could have “consequences” for the Scandinavian country’s companies in China, prompting Swedish telecom giant and Huawei competitor Ericsson to worry about retaliation.

“We will continue to be available to have constructive dialogues with Swedish authorities to see if we can find pragmatic ways of taking care of security and at the same time keeping an open and fair market like Sweden has always been,” Fredriksen said.

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