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Huawei’s Mate 60 Pro can now make quantum-encrypted phone calls. But are they really hack proof?

  • China Telecom Quantum Group debuts new device for Huawei’s Mate 60 Pro that it says can prevent eavesdropping
  • But despite ‘triple protection’ strategy, the technology is not completely immune to hacking, industry insiders say

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Huawei’s new Mate 60 Pro handset, which surprised many when it was announced in August, can be customised to make quantum-encrypted phone calls directly through the native dial pad. Photo: Bloomberg
Dannie Peng
The tremors have barely settled since Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies in August unveiled its new Mate 60 Pro, a 5G smartphone that featured a cutting edge processor heralded as a giant technological leap for China.
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There were more surprises to come, it turned out.

On Monday, China Telecom Quantum Group, in collaboration with Huawei, introduced the Huawei Mate 60 Pro Quantum Secure Call Customized Terminal – a smart device that is equipped with quantum encryption technology. According to the company, this effectively makes it impossible for anyone to eavesdrop on a secured call.

The device was debuted at the 2023 Digital Technology Ecology Conference in Guangzhou, in southern China’s Guangdong province, according to an article on China Telecom Quantum Group’s official social media account. The joint venture was formed in 2020 by China Telecom – one of the country’s three state-owned telecom companies – and quantum information tech firm QuantumCTek Group.

The Mate 60 Pro handset stunned the tech community when it was launched in August. Sporting an advanced chip and soaring sales, it has since been hailed by domestic consumers as a symbol of China’s ability to overcome tough US trade sanctions.

Most current smartphones are based on chips and operating systems developed by American companies, some reportedly hacked by the CIA. Huawei, which in 2019 was added to a US blacklist that cut off its access to advanced US technology, has turned to its home-made 9100S CPU and Harmony operating system to power its devices.

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