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Cyber officials call for coordinated 5G security approach

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By KELVIN CHAN and KAREL JANICEK

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Ban Huawei globally. Done

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Countries and enterprises are still not used to the concept of Information Assets. They would understand and invest on the road safety for carrying cash but not for the information security. Docomo, KDDI and Softbank, all are using Huawei devices to cut cost. Huawei (and Honor etc.) Phones and Network devices are already tested to have back doors by the security professionals all over the world (Just google the whitepapers). But in Japan, no one is concerned about this. All the customers, individuals and enterprises, who are using these companies' services, are having their data run thru Huawei devices. Even though the information may be encrypted, with the larger volume of sample data, it is much easier to decrypt the information.

This is not as simple as banning these devices in one jurisdiction. The data now is stored in cloud services, which is spread around the world. So, even if you ban these devices in Europe, the data may be available in Philippines to be accessed by Huawei Network devices. And yes, most of the 3rd world countries' telecom and governments are using Huawei Devices, because they are sold cheaper than any other competition. They captured the personal data market with their cheaper (yet very high spec) phones in almost all 3rd world countries. And then sell the network devices with the lowest bid. You can see how they were trying to monitor Pakistan via the government CCTV project below.

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-47856098

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Huawei (and Honor etc.) Phones and Network devices are already tested to have back doors by the security professionals all over the world (Just google the whitepapers).

Could you point to some of this information? When I look around, I come across papers and articles that tend to say something like "no concrete evidence of wrongdoing but a threat to U.S. national security". Even the article you link to, after implying some security problem, says, "There is no evidence that the cards created a vulnerability..."

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Huawei was just recently caught on record trying to steal technology of a new "Diamond Glass" which is stronger and more scratch-resistant than the current Gorilla Glass on mobile devices and also has military applications:

https://www.androidpolice.com/2019/02/05/diamond-glass-lasers-the-fbi-huawei-and-burgers-finally-a-smartphone-story-with-everything/

Basically, the story goes:

1) A new U.S. company Akhan Tech developed Diamond Glass and was looking for partners.

2) Huawei expressed interest and asked for samples. Akhan sent Huawei samples with 2 main conditions - to return it undamaged and not to be taken out of the US (as it's against the law to export military-grade tech).

3) Huawei not only returned the samples late but also broken with pieces missing.

4) Akhan suspected something's amiss, that the samples were taken to China, and thus contacted the FBI. The FBI determined that samples were intentionally cut with high-powered precision laser (Diamond Glass is difficult to cut). Akhan suspects Huawei trying to reverse-engineer their Diamond Glass technology.

5) Akhan agreed to wear wire for the FBI and record their next meeting with Huawei. On record, Huawei admitted that samples were taken to China because "it's really ok" to do it. (Regardless of the law, Huawei's deal with Akhan still prohibited samples to be taken outside the US.)

6) Akhan is now suing Huawei and also wants the still-missing parts back, which they believe to be in China.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Basically, the story goes:

I think that should be, "the story as reported by Akhan goes". There seems something a little odd in the reports of this incident.

How was a Bloomberg reporter able to observe the Sting operation? Why have the FBI not charged anyone?

Other articles:

http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/02/a-bloomberg-reporter-watched-the-fbi-run-a-sting-on-huawei.html

https://www.quora.com/A-report-about-Huawei-and-broken-diamond-glass-was-it-reasonable-to-broadcast-negative-news-against-Huawei-only-based-on-FBI-accusation

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

As the article mentions, Akhan had to divulge the information early while the FBI investigation is still ongoing due to the potential loss of a customer:

The diamond-glass supplier felt forced to divulge its involvement in the investigation at an earlier time than initially planned, as they had the poor luck of running into — and being forced to snub — a representative from another company that was interested in the product during the CES sting with Huawei in Vegas. Rather than face the potential loss of a customer, Akhan went public with the details.

Akhan was wired up by the FBI, so there is a recording of the conversation. We'll see what comes out when it goes to court (if there's no out-of-court settlement beforehand).

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Huawei tech is faster and more flexible than european providers.

Huawei phones are better in many ways than most other phones.

Huawei infrastructure can be deployed quickly and by low-skilled people.

Who do you think the world is going to choose?

But what about spying?

Just ask Snowden, Assange, Bill Benny, the NSA about spying and backdoors.

I was just in Beijing and was really impressed with their network infrastructure and business applications on mobile. Much better than garbage SNS.

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