SHENZHEN, China -- In June 2021, when the COVID-19 pandemic was still rampant, Huawei Technologies opened its largest-ever cybersecurity and privacy protection center in the southern city of Dongguan.

Located 40 kilometers away from the Shenzhen headquarters, the Ox Horn campus, a European-themed model village, stretches over a 1.8 square kilometer site that is split into 12 “towns” named after European cities. And the towns are linked by a 7.8-kilometer commuter tram to transport employees using Huawei’s self-developed autonomous vehicles.

Currently, some 25,000 research workers and 4,500 backup staff work on the campus.

The cybersecurity center was established to reflect the needs of customers who value cybersecurity amid advancements in technology. As Huawei takes security seriously on the production lines, it tests core-network products and finds vulnerabilities early. On Thursday, when a group of Korean reporters visited the site, there were over 130,000 cyberattack attempts made on Huawei in 12 hours.

Huawei felt that cooperation with external groups is necessary for cybersecurity and privacy protection, which are the foundation of the digital economy. Therefore, it established an end-to-end cybersecurity assurance system to tackle cybersecurity challenges through partnerships with governments, customers and partners openly and transparently.

“Since 2011, Huawei has regarded cybersecurity and privacy as one of the company's important development strategies, and in 2018 it was stated as a top priority by the board of directors. Huawei makes cybersecurity and privacy a top priority and provides sufficient resources to realize it,” Huawei’s engineer Nancy Lihualan said.

Over the past 30 years, the Chinese tech giant has served its security and protection services to more than 3 billion people around the globe, supporting the stable operation of over 1,500 carrier networks in some 170 countries and regions.

Based on its trusted services, the tech giant was able to obtain about 440 certificates worldwide. The number is not the highest compared to that of US-based Cisco Systems, but the engineer said the ratings are higher overall.

By Jie Ye-eun

Korea Herald correspondent