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Chinese Hardware-Hacking

It's good to see governments waking up, even if it's a bit late. I wish the general populace would similarly wake up, and not just about Chinese kit.
What other kit should we be concerned about?
 
The australian government has also just ruled that they need backdoor access to encryption programmes.
 
The australian government has also just ruled that they need backdoor access to encryption programmes.

Yup, and that's a worry. Of course it was introduced to "stop terrorists".

Of course, the law doesn't require you to be even suspected of terrorism - it just requires somebody to suspect you of something - and bang, there goes your privacy. Or what little there is left of it.

“It is deeply concerning that the minimum safeguards Australians should expect under such unprecedented new powers — judicial oversight and a warrant-based system — are absent in relation to the new Technical Capability Notice.”

In a letter to the Australian government last month, Apple argued the measure would “allow the government to order the makers of smart home speakers to install persistent eavesdropping capabilities into a person’s home, require a provider to monitor the health data of its customers for indications of drug use, or require the development of a tool that can unlock a particular user’s device”.

https://www.news.com.au/technology/...n/news-story/1908381486502c1913598fc2853cd48c

At least our government openly admits to installing backdoor access to our devices.
 
In the wake of Canada extraditing a senior Huawei executive to the USA, China has increased the sentence on Canadian national Robert Schellenberg, detained since 2014 for alleged drug offences, from 14 years to death.
Canada has now issued a warning to all citizens who are thinking of travelling to China.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...-death-drug-charges-robert-lloyd-schellenberg

Also El Reg reports that Poland is set to be the first European state to ban Huawei hardware outright.
 
Huawei's founder praises Trump and denies claims his company spies for China

London (CNN Business)The reclusive founder of Huawei has denied allegations that his telecoms company spies for the Chinese government.
Ren Zhengfei also praised President Donald Trump as a "great president," shrugging off allegations by Washington that Huawei is a threat to US national security.
Speaking to foreign media for the first time in three years, Ren, 74, said he loved China and supported the Communist Party but had never been asked to share "improper information" about Huawei's partners.
"I personally would never harm the interest of my customers and me, and my company would not answer to such requests," he told reporters in Shenzhen, according to the Wall Street Journal.

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/01/15/tech/huawei-founder-ren-zhengfei/index.html

Deny everything and praise Trump. He'll be working in Washington soon.
 
Germany has one of the toughest privacy laws anywhere. And yet - they don't seem to be bothered by Huawei:

Germany does not want to exclude Huawei from 5G

BERLIN (Reuters) - The German government wants to avoid excluding products offered by China’s Huawei Technologies from the build-out of the next generation 5G network in Germany, business daily Handelsblatt reported on Thursday, citing government sources.
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s chief of staff, Helge Braun, agreed the position with the foreign, interior, economy, finance and infrastructure ministries, Handelsblatt reported in its online edition.
They met after Wednesday’s regular cabinet meeting, it said.

Government sources had told Reuters that German ministers on Wednesday discussed how to safeguard security in future 5G mobile networks, amid intense debate over whether to shut Huawei out of the market.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...i-from-5g-buildout-handelsblatt-idUSKCN1PW1TA
 
They do seem to be unaware of the potential dangers.
 
I recently read an article by Chris Baraniuk in New Scientist called "Phoning in the Future"
Link provided for those prepared to pay: New Scientist Issue 3220 page 22-23
The suggestion in the article is that there are at multiple different systems in play and few of them are faster than 4G at this time. Indications within the article are that 5G may be a lot more hype than substance, quite apart from the Huawei hardware spy components . The article also contains a sub-story about conspiracy theorists who think the 5G network boxes are murderous devices that will be used to deliberately kill people en masse.
 
Claims that Huawei technology is a long-term security risk and yet the UK refuses to fall in line with Canada, USA, Denmark, Czech Republic, New Zealand, Japan, Poland, Australia etc. in banning Huawei hardware:
Perhaps the government may wish to exploit any alleged supposed security risk..............

Wm.
 
I was watching a documentary that was a few years old and it was by members of the US security forces (FBI, CIA etc) and they were quite happy to divulge that they and fitted Dell computers sent to various 'sensitive' countries with spy ware installed in the hard drives.
In light of this, if true, isn't it rater hypocritical of the US to moan about other countries doing the same ? particularly as they are tapping our data via Google etc, on a daily basis.
 
isn't it rater hypocritical of the US to moan about other countries doing the same ? particularly as they are tapping our data via Google etc, on a daily basis.

Sure. We all know everyone does it.
But the doesn't mean we shouldn't try to prevent "the other side" from gaining access.
 
Agreed. But has there been actual evidence found that the Huawei gear has things hidden in it ?
 
An amusing slip about old-skool spying from Jacob Rees-Mogg at 12'22"


May I recommend starting at 11'34"?
 
i have just found out there is a not-so-secret, secret huawei tech checking facility in my town.

Since 2010, the humdrum business park has been the home of the Huawei Cyber Security Evaluation Centre (HCSEC) - a unique partnership between the mobile giant and the UK authorities that aims to ensure that UK infrastructure isn’t compromised by the involvement of the Chinese firm.

...

BT noticed that core switches installed by Huawei as part of that network were doing an unusual amount of “chattering,” raising concerns amongst UK authorities. By 2010, these fears had grown enough for GCHQ to take the unprecedented step of setting up the HCSEC, also known as ‘The Cell’. Its aim was to study every piece of hardware or software destined for the UK market, at Huawei’s expense - looking for potentially malicious code.

It’s a unique arrangement, and a level of scrutiny levelled at no other technology companies operating in the UK. According to Tim Stevens, a lecturer in global security at King’s College London, the formation of The Cell came at a time when the David Cameron-led government was “crawling to China, begging for investment”. Setting up HCSEC allowed Huawei to continue to provide its cheap, market-leading equipment to the UK, while assuaging security fears. “It was a political move, a way of allowing Huawei to demonstrate that it was serious about putting good quality kit in the UK market.”


not linking because i am trying to be coy about where i am (not to protect the secret centre but because i don't like announcing where i am), but this is from a mainstream publication.
 
not linking because i am trying to be coy about where i am (not to protect the secret centre but because i don't like announcing where i am), but this is from a mainstream publication.
We can work it out. Its location isn't secret.
 
l was watching the BBC Click technology magazine programme recently. One of the presenters had bought a Roomba-type automatic vacuum cleaner. Before using it, he had to consent to the usual intrusive electronic drivel.

When he had the device tested, it was sending data to China. The name Shenzhen appeared in the data. This is described by Wikipedia as “...a leading technology hub...the next Silicon Valley...”

A security monitoring camera was also analysed. lt was found to be sharing data with 54 organisations.

The relevant episode (~6:30 onwards):


maximus otter
 
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