back to article Huawei denies spying, calls for global security standards

Even as execs of the Chinese telecom giant Huawei prepare to testify before Congress over concerns that the company's networking equipment may pose a security threat to US infrastructure, the company issued a public statement claiming that it has never participated in cyber espionage or any other illegal act, and that it would …

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  1. AfternoonTea
    FAIL

    U.S. accusing someone of privacy concerns?

    Pot & kettle.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Deniability

      Deny all you want... All phone manufacturers can spy on you.... And they do....all the time collecting and collating your data.

      It's just that the US, China, UK etc etc etc taps into this from time to time.

  2. mickey mouse the fith

    heh, I once bought a cheapo chinese router that had a sneaky backdoor built in. It had a hidden server that bypassed all the firewall rules you set. I couldnt find any info or a fixed firmware on the net, so it still sits in its box as a monument to the stupidity of buying cheap no-name chinese tech.

    As an aside, its the only router I have ever seen that let you crank up the wifi power WAY above the U.K. legal limit (and it got worryingly hot on full whack).

    1. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge

      [citation needed]

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Let me see:

    Competition to US company is of foreign origin: check

    Waving the security card: check

    US company's ability to sponsor political campaigns: check

    I certainly see no reason to expect Cisco et al to be spyware free either, given that it comes from the Land of the Free which seems to have embarked on a course to spy on everyone with worrying vigour. So, methinks they doth protest too much - maybe because Huawei did NOT want to play ball?

    You have to choose who to trust. An independent eval strikes me as the best route here..

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      @AC 04:53

      "Competition to US company is of foreign origin: check"

      Nothing new here, is there? Look at the US attacks on the City, when it was their dodgy sub-prime lending and CDO's that melted the global finacial system. Or the enthusiastic savaging of BP, rather than the equally culpable Haliburton over the GoM spill. Or the whole Boeing/Airbus subsidies and bidding debacle. Or the entusiasm for pursuing BAe over bribes rather than US operators, when the whole international arms trade is based on bungs of one form or another.

  4. Arctic fox
    Headmaster

    This kind of thing is hardly surprising.

    "In an apparent jab against the US and its allies, which have all but admitted using state-sponsored malware in recent attacks on Iran and other targets, Suffolk warns that the lack of international law governing cyber security may soon have severe consequences."

    On the one hand they complain the Huwei may be engaging in or permitting others to engage in espionage against Western interests via "modifications" to the equipment that the company supplies customers with. This they do whilst they, at the same time, can hardly fail to be aware that various Western security agencies are doing precisely this kind of net based spying/sabotage themselves. One can only conclude that certain forces amongst Western politicians and industrialist are using this as an excuse to hamstring a major industrial rival to their own home companies. I am increasingly getting the feeling that a growing number of Western "movers and shakers" are beginning to be attracted by the thought of using a fairly eclectic and unscrupulous mix of IP "protection" and "security concerns" to try and cope with an unpleasant discovery. I.e. That since they managed to shove their own neo-liberal trade policies down the throats of the rest of the word during the nineties and early two thousands, they have ended up hoist upon their own free-trade agreements petard.

    1. frank ly

      Re: This kind of thing is hardly surprising.

      But, but....but....we were the best.....we had it all, .....what's happening?

      1. Arctic fox
        Thumb Up

        Re: "But, but....but....we were the best.....we had it all, .....what's happening?"

        Indeed. Competition is a wonderful thing, except when you fear that you are beginning to lose! :-)

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    All your democracy belong to us

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Facepalm

    The USA? - I Give Up

    Last week Apple and now this absurdity. It is ironic that the one nation on earth created by more different races than any other has become the most xenophobic. That 'The Land of The Free' appears hell bent on global dictatorship.

    Global Security Standards, my arse, US Controlled (Everything) Security Standards is what they mean.

    Ah well, I sincerely hope the adage 'give 'em enough rope' will apply and they are sowing the seeds of their own downfall.

  7. dephormation.org.uk
    Big Brother

    Hauwei, partners with Phorm, deny spying?

    I didn't realise John Suffolk was a comedian.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Open source?

    The only way to have half a chance of buying equipment that is spy-free is to have it open sourced, also at the hardware/firmware level, so it can be properly inspected world wide.

    Not completely secure of course, as someone might be way more clever than those checking the system out, but compared to the "trust us, honest, we are a big successful company" approach, at least is has a chance.

    In addition, if everyone in that market had to do it the issue of copying IP would be much harder to disguise.

  9. Fatman

    Really???

    ....the company issued a public statement claiming that it has never participated in cyber espionage or any other illegal act, and that it would never do so.

    To quote Dr. Gregory House, M.D. Everybody LIES!!!!!!!

    .... the company asserts that the negative attention it has received is unfair and that espionage would be against its business interests: For our survival, we have never damaged any nation or had the intent to steal any national intelligence, enterprise secrets or breach personal privacy and we will never support or tolerate such activities, nor will we support any entity from any country who may wish us to undertake an activity that would be deemed illegal in any country.

    Said while a PLA representative was (off camera) pointing a rifle at the "mouthpiece's" head. Why should anyone believe them?

  10. Charles Smith

    I was on the phone...

    "I was on the phone chatting to a friend about the war in the South China Seas. He was worried in case the Royal Navy became involved when suddenly the UK's BT 21CN telephone and broadband total failure suddenly interrupted the call..."

    An impossible scenario with all the PLA backed HUAWEI equipment at the heart of our telecoms infrastructure?

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