Ethiopian-American Contractor Charged with Spying for Ethiopia

 The Washington Post published on 21 September 2023 an article titled "State and Justice Dept. Contractor Charged with Spying for Ethiopia" by Spencer S. Hsu.

A contract employee for the State and Justice departments has been charged with passing classified information since August 2022 to an official associated with Ethiopia's intelligence service.  Abraham Teklu Lemma of Silver Spring, Maryland, faces three separate counts according to the FBI.  

China Expands Submarine Cable Effort in African Waters

 Foreign Policy published on 10 March 2023 an article titled "The Next Superpower Battlefield Could Be Under the Sea in Africa" by Joseph B. Keller, Brookings Institution.  

The accelerated construction of submarine cables in African waters gives significant leverage to China while creating a security vulnerability due to the risk of Russian espionage.  Chinese construction has become an important pillar of Beijing's foreign policy agenda.  Russia's military and naval capabilities have the capacity to tap into the cables for espionage purposes.  Western countries need to be alert to the implications of African submarine cable proliferation going forward.   

South African MP Alleged to Be Spying for China

 The South African Broadcasting Company ran on 1 September 2021 a three and one-half minute news segment titled "Parties React to Claims that ANC MP Xiaomei Havard Is Spying for China."

An alleged leaked report from the South African State Security Agency noted that there is a "high likelihood" that the African National Congress member of parliament could be sharing classified information about South Africa with the Communist Party of China.  

The Daily Maverick published on 1 September 2021 an article titled "How Seriously Should We Take the Claim of Possible Chinese Spy in Parliament?" by Rebecca Davis.

The author suggests that the Chinese-South African MP is too obvious of a choice to spy for China.  The State Security Agency denied that it authored any report on the MP.  The Daily Maverick says the bigger question is how did she even manage to become an ANC MP.    

China, US, Africa, and Huawei

The Daily Maverick published on 5 March 2020 an article titled "Part One: Are South Africans Safe with Huawei? It's All About the Risk" by Heidi Swart, an investigative journalist.

Most of the article focuses on U.S. concerns that Huawei could serve the government of China's ability to spy on other countries. The author points out that South Africa relies heavily on Huawei for its telecommunications network and concludes that China and South Africa enjoy warm diplomatic ties, so South Africans shouldn't worry. Or should they? Stay tuned for part 2.

South Africa: Chinese Video Surveillance Equipment Subject to Cyber Attacks

South Africa's Daily Maverick published a two part series on cyber security weaknesses in Chinese video surveillance equipment being widely used in South Africa. Part One appeared on 13 June 2019 titled "Visual Surveillance and Weak Cyber Security, Part One: When Cameras Get Dangerous" by investigative reporter Heidi Swart.

China's Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology leads the global video surveillance industry. The government of China is a controlling shareholder. Hikvision established a South African branch in 2015 in partnership with South Africa's Vumacam, which uses Hikvision internet protocol (IP) cameras. The cameras are intended to curb crime but researchers have discovered several cyber-security vulnerabilities in Hikvision's products that a hacker can use to get into computers, smartphones, IP cameras, etc. These vulnerabilities can allow a hacker to control remotely a device, infect it with malware, or access data.

Daily Maverick published on 26 June 2019 a followup report titled "Video Surveillance and Cybersecurity (Part Two): Chinese Cyber Espionage Is a Real Threat" by Heidi Swart.

Part Two raises the potential for espionage by using equipment provided by Hikvision, Huawei, and ZTE drawing heavily on concerns expressed in the United States. Unlike the United States, however, South Africa's State Security Agency has enjoyed a close relationship with China's security agencies.

China and the African Internet

Foreign Policy posted on 19 March 2019 an article titled "For Africa, Chinese-Built Internet Is Better Than No Internet at All" by Amy Mackinnon.

The Chinese company Huawei has built about 70 percent of Africa's 4G networks, leaving European companies far behind and American companies almost absent. African governments seem unconcerned about Western charges that they may be leaving themselves vulnerable to espionage.

Did China Bug the Africa Union Headquarters?

The Diplomat published on 31 January 2018 an article titled "If China Bugged the AU Headquarters, What African Countries Should be Worried?" by Shannon Tiezzi, editor of the US-based publication.

The French paper Le Monde broke a story that China, which financed and constructed the African Union headquarters and its computer network in Addis Ababa, has been methodically transferring sensitive cyber information from the headquarters to Beijing. Although China strongly denied the account, the author asks if there might be similar issues at Chinese built and financed structures elsewhere in Africa.