Security News > 2020 > February > Huawei Hit With New US Charges of Trade Secrets Theft
Chinese tech giant Huawei was hit Thursday with fresh US criminal charges alleging a "Decades-long" effort to steal trade secrets from American companies.
A US indictment unsealed in New York alleges Huawei and its proxies conspired "To misappropriate intellectual property" from six US firms as part of a strategy to grow and become the world's largest telecom equipment maker, the Justice Department said.
The new charges including a federal racketeering allegation add to an indictment unsealed in January 2019 that alleged Huawei stole trade secrets from US carrier T-Mobile.
The new 16-count indictment says Huawei used a "Long-running practice of using fraud and deception to misappropriate sophisticated technology from US counterparts," a Justice Department statement said, without naming the American companies.
"Huawei's efforts to steal trade secrets and other sophisticated US technology were successful," according to the statement, which said the company "Obtained nonpublic intellectual property relating to internet router source code, cellular antenna technology and robotics" to gain an "Unfair competitive advantage" over rivals.