Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by Fnord666 on Thursday February 15 2018, @12:01PM   Printer-friendly
from the which-phone-has-the-official-okey-dokey? dept.

Intelligence agency heads have warned against using Huawei and ZTE products and services:

The heads of six major US intelligence agencies have warned that American citizens shouldn't use products and services made by Chinese tech giants Huawei and ZTE. According to a report from CNBC, the intelligence chiefs made the recommendation during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Tuesday. The group included the heads of the FBI, the CIA, the NSA, and the director of national intelligence.

During his testimony, FBI Director Chris Wray said the the government was "deeply concerned about the risks of allowing any company or entity that is beholden to foreign governments that don't share our values to gain positions of power inside our telecommunications networks." He added that this would provide "the capacity to maliciously modify or steal information. And it provides the capacity to conduct undetected espionage."

These warnings are nothing new. The US intelligence community has long been wary of Huawei, which was founded by a former engineer in China's People's Liberation Army and has been described by US politicians as "effectively an arm of the Chinese government." This caution led to a ban on Huawei bidding for US government contracts in 2014, and it's now causing problems for the company's push into consumer electronics.

Verizon and AT&T recently cancelled plans to sell Huawei's Mate 10 Pro smartphone.

Don't use a Huawei phone because it's too Chinese. Don't use an Apple phone because strong encryption is not "responsible encryption". Which phone is just right for the FBI?

Previously: U.S. Lawmakers Urge AT&T to Cut Ties With Huawei

Related: FBI Director Christopher Wray Keeps War on Encryption Alive
U.S. Government Reportedly Wants to Build a 5G Network to Thwart Chinese Spying


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 1) by anubi on Friday February 16 2018, @04:24AM

    by anubi (2828) on Friday February 16 2018, @04:24AM (#638655) Journal

    I would believe ex-spouses or business associates/competitors have the most compelling reasons to hack into your phone.

    I believe the government wants the existence of these backdoors because they are preparing for the social unrest that is sure to follow when some of our rather extravagrant banking practices come home to roost. They will need to quickly find out who the leaders are so they can have minimal impact on the general populace, who they need to keep at work so we all can continue to have the goods and services we have become accustomed to.

    I believe they also justify their needs for backdoors to assist in tracking and accumulating evidence to nail social miscreants. Like someone goes and shoots up a shopping mall, we want to nail the guy as fast as possible, and find out if any of his associates have plans to do something similar.

    I do not believe anyone wants to see us regress back to times like described in the Bible. Why even the homeless today have it better than the Kings did back in those days. Show me a King who could go relax in a burger joint on a really sweltering day back then.... all they seemed to have is slaves waving palm fronds at them - functional equivalent of an electric fan, sans body odor.

    But, back to privacy, if backdoors exist at all, they will be abused, as no-one can keep a secret. Look at all the bean-spilling and whistle-blowing that goes on.

    If a phone ( or a computer ) has even the existence of being compromised, it will, and most likely, it *won't* be the government doing it. Its gonna be some ex-spouse or anyone else who "has you in their sights", and has retained a technical "hit man" to do a number on you.

    People already pay thousands of dollars to give other people a "free helicopter ride". You don't think they can't really make a major problem in your life by finding out certain things about you? For a lot less money and legal risk than helicopter rides. We've all seen the tiniest of things blown up all way out of proportion once some head gets to jabbering about it and won't shut up.
       

    --
    "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]