DeepSeek found Chinese telecom company code, questions raised about security
DeepSeek: China Mobile was banned by the US government from operating in the country in 2019 due to national security concerns. It is a major telecom company in China. The US government had raised concerns about the relationship between this telecom operator and the Chinese government. Apart from this, in 2021, the US also banned investing in China Mobile, as evidence was found of this company's links to the Chinese military.
DeepSeek's source code revealed a link between one of the most popular artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots and a Chinese communications corporation prohibited in America, a report alleged. Code capable of possibly sending information entered in its web client to China Mobile, a report alleged, and it is alleged to be in relation to opening and logging in an account in the Chinese AI chatbot platform, even when it could not be confirmed that DeepSeek actually sends information, but could not be ruled out at least.
According to a report, DeepSeek's source code contains code that may be able to send users' login information to China Mobile. This report was provided to AP by Canada-based cybersecurity firm Feroot Security. The report said that several independent experts have confirmed these claims.
It is worth noting that China Mobile was banned by the US government from operating in the country in 2019 due to national security concerns. It is a major telecom company of China. The US government had raised concerns about the relationship between this telecom operator and the Chinese government. Apart from this, in 2021, the US also banned investing in China Mobile, as evidence of this company's links to the Chinese military was found.
The report did not share technical details of the alleged code, but it revealed that DeepSeek's AI platform is capable of sending users' login information and queries directly to China Mobile's servers.
The cybersecurity firm also said that the exposed code suggests that DeepSeek's connection could be even more dangerous than TikTok. TikTok was banned in the US for a few hours, but was later reinstated.
Feroot CEO Ivan Tsarinni said, "Its impact could be very wide, as it could lead to the leaking of personal and confidential information. It is like TikTok, but on a much larger scale and with greater accuracy. It is not limited to sharing entertainment videos, but it can also include sensitive business and personal information."
The researchers have not yet analyzed DeepSeek's mobile application, but it is likely that similar code may be present in it as well. Interestingly, recently DeepSeek's iOS app reached the first position in the "Top Free Apps" list of App Store in the US and it even left behind OpenAI.
