A warning issued by the Slovenia government in June revealed a silent risk that may be threatening various public agencies and private companies across Europe: USB and other USB devices made in China, widely used in ministries and state agencies, may be serving as a gateway to cyber spy operations linked to the Asian communist regime.
According to the Slovenian authorities, several pendters imported from the Asian country and distributed to at least twenty government agencies were infected with a worm – A type of malware capable of downloading malicious programs and extracting sensitive data from computers connected to internal networks.
Given the severity of the case, the government of Liubliana declared “cyberameaça state” and immediately suspended the use of all removable devices of Chinese origin. “We cannot disclose further details to protect the interests of the ongoing investigation,” police said. Technicians are still trying to identify at what stage the malicious code has been inserted – whether in Chinese factories, during transportation or already on European soil.
For experts, the episode is not an isolated case. “Removable storage devices have been a favorite entrance doors for hackers and spies for years,” Uroš Svete, director of the Slovenia National Cybersecurity Agency, told local press. A recent report by Honeywell technology company points out that threats related to external media are already accounting for 52% of cyber incidents, a 15 percentage leap between 2024 and 2025.
Experts also point out that groups of hackers linked to the Chinese regime have expanded their offensives against strategic institutions in different countries in Europe, using, in addition to the USB sticks, several other attack vectors. Earlier this year, the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs was the target of a cyber attack attributed to the APT31 group, associated with Beijing’s intelligence. Between 2021 and 2023, Belgium also had part of the emails of its secret service compromised by agents linked to China, exposing sensitive data from hundreds of operatives.
The Slovenian case rekindled the debate on European dependence on technological inputs produced in countries considered strategic opponents of the West, such as China. Despite the reduced cost and wide offer, experts warn that the economy generated in the acquisition of these products may result in significant risks to national security.
“Cheap can be very expensive when it comes to state security,” warned Svete.
Given the scenario, European countries have extended efforts to diversify suppliers and reinforce protocols of integrity verification of the equipment acquired. Slovenia itself signed a cooperation agreement with the United States in 2020 to strengthen the safety of 5G networks and strategic digital infrastructure.
