When it comes to computer hardware western governments aren’t enamored with the idea of using equipment supplied by Chinese companies. Concerns that such gear could allow the Chinese government a secret back door into government servers have been raised time and time again, with companies like Huawei and ZTE usually bearing the brunt of the suspcion. But now it turns out that another well known Chinese firm, Lenovo, has also been blacklisted by western intelligence agencies.

Last weekend, the Australian Financial Review revealed how the so-called “Five Eyes“, a group encompassing the intelligence agencies of the US, Australia, Britain, Canada and New Zealand, have all instituted a policy of banning Lenovo computers from being used in their secure networks. The company was blacklisted shortly after IBM sold its PC division to Lenovo in 2005, shortly before the State Department revealed that the manufacturer’s machines would no longer be used on its classified networks. Instead, members of the “Five Eyes” group religiously stick to using machines made by US firms Dell and HP. Even so, Lenovo is still said to be a “significant” supplier of computers to the governments of Australia and New Zealand, not too mention NASA, though its machines are only used on “unclassified” networks, states AFR.

Why Can’t Lenovo Be Trusted?

Lenovo was first founded back in 1984 with its headquarters established in Beijing, though today it now operates in over 60 countries. The company recently surpassed HP to become the world’s largest PC maker by market share, taking 16.7% in the last quarter according to Gartner, although IDC’s figures still give HP a slight edge.

There’s no doubt that Lenovo has become a hugely successful international brand, but at the same time its links to China’s government are clear. Despite being listed as a public company, Beijing is said to retain a significant interest in the company via the state-run Chinese Academy of Sciences, which holds a 36% share in Legend Holdings, a company that in turn owns a 34% stake in Lenovo.

Lenovo isn’t the first Chinese firm to be singled out for criticism by western governments on security grounds. Late last year, the Intelligence Committee of the US House of Representatives published a report of their investigation into Huawei and ZTE, stating that the companies pose a serious risk to security as their hardware could allow Chinese hackers a backdoor into US companies and agencies’ systems. The report recommended banning the sale of Huawei’s and ZTE’s hardware in the US, though the two companies denied all the allegations leveled against them. Now, Michael Hayden, ex-head of the NSA, has once again reiterated those claims, telling AFR that he had seen evidence of Huawei’s spying on behalf of China, a claim that was also denied.

Even so, one has to wonder about the effectiveness of any ban on Lenovo’s hardware. While manufacturers like HP and Dell are no doubt considered a lot more trustworthy in the eyes of US officials, these companies’ machines are often built using Chinese-made components. Accordingly, it seems impossible that any risk of spying could be fully mitigated.

[UPDATE]

Lenovo has reached out to inform me that the original AFR article on which this report has been based has since been declared inaccurate by the Australian government. The Australian Department of Defence posted the following statement on its website:

“This reporting is factually incorrect. There is no Department of Defence ban on the Lenovo Company or their products; either for classified or unclassified systems.”

So far there has been no response to this denial from AFR.