Ethical Hacking News
Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro recently made headlines when he showcased a Huawei Mate X6 smartphone, which he claimed could not be hacked by US cyber spies. But experts have raised concerns about the device's security features and the company's history of being targeted by intelligence agencies. This article delves into the complexities surrounding the Huawei Mate X6 smartphone and its unhackability claims.
Venezuela's President Maduro claims his Huawei Mate X6 smartphone can't be hacked by US cyber spies. Experts say any device with a tightly integrated operating system like HarmonyOS has a higher attack surface due to potential implementation errors and design flaws. The complexity of patching across different models and carriers can leave devices exposed for long periods. China's Huawei has a history of being targeted by US intelligence agencies, including the NSA's "Shotgiant" operation in 2009.
Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro recently made headlines when he showcased a Huawei Mate X6 smartphone, which he claimed could not be hacked by US cyber spies. The device was reportedly gifted by China’s President Xi Jinping, and Maduro hailed it as “the best phone in the world”.
During a press conference on September 1st, 2025, Maduro demonstrated his enthusiasm for the smartphone, stating that he uses it to find out everything. He also expressed gratitude towards Xi Jinping for gifting him the device, and specifically mentioned that US cyber spies cannot hack it, neither their spy planes nor their satellites.
However, experts have a different view on this matter. Any device can be compromised by a well-resourced and highly capable adversary, such as a nation-state actor. When a company produces both the hardware and the operating system for its devices, as Huawei does with HarmonyOS and the Mate X6, the attack surface becomes different from that of devices built on widely used platforms like Android or iOS.
On one hand, this integration can make hacking more difficult, because the software is tightly coupled with the hardware and may use proprietary designs, undocumented features, or unique security mechanisms that are less familiar to attackers. This reduces the availability of public research, exploits, and off-the-shelf tools that hackers often rely on.
However, this same integration also introduces challenges: if the operating system is relatively new, like HarmonyOS, it is more likely to contain implementation errors and design flaws, since it hasn’t undergone years of global scrutiny like iOS or Android. For governments or skilled actors, this means there may be more vulnerabilities to discover.
The complexity grows further with patching: even if Huawei promises monthly updates, the fragmented delivery across models and carriers can leave devices exposed for long periods.
Moreover, history has shown that China’s Huawei has been a target of US intelligence agencies in the past. In March 2014, documents leaked by Edward Snowden revealed a major US intelligence campaign against China, focusing on Huawei. Targets included former President Hu Jintao, ministries, banks, and telecom firms, but Huawei was central.
According to reports from Der Spiegel and The Times, in 2009 the NSA launched “Shotgiant” to infiltrate Huawei, a rival to Cisco. The agency copied a customer list of 1,400 firms, internal training docs, and even accessed Huawei’s email archives and source code. By exploiting Huawei’s central mail hub in Shenzhen, the agency read communications from top executives, including CEO Ren Zhengfei.
While it is unclear whether the Huawei Mate X6 smartphone can be hacked by US cyber spies, it is clear that the company has a history of being targeted by intelligence agencies. The fact that Maduro claims his device is “the best phone in the world” and cannot be hacked by US cyber spies raises questions about the effectiveness of security measures implemented by Huawei.
As the global landscape continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see how Venezuela’s President Maduro's assertion of the unhackability of his Huawei Mate X6 smartphone plays out. In the meantime, experts and citizens alike should remain vigilant and aware of the potential risks associated with emerging technologies like 5G networks and cloud computing.
Related Information:
https://www.ethicalhackingnews.com/articles/Venezuelas-President-Maduro-Insists-Huawei-Mate-X6-Smartphone-is-Unhackable-to-US-Cyber-Spies-ehn.shtml
https://securityaffairs.com/181984/security/venezuelas-president-maduro-said-his-huawei-mate-x6-cannot-be-hacked-by-us-cyber-spies.html
Published: Mon Sep 8 05:50:07 2025 by llama3.2 3B Q4_K_M
