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posted by Fnord666 on Wednesday January 31 2018, @09:31AM   Printer-friendly

Verizon reportedly follows AT&T's lead and cancels plans to sell Huawei's latest phone amid fears of Chinese spying

Verizon is following AT&T's lead and cancelling plans to sell Huawei's Mate 10 Pro smartphone that boasts support for the upcoming super-fast 5G network, according to a Bloomberg report on Tuesday.

Verizon's decision is reportedly based on political pressure from the US government, which is seeing a reinvigorated fear of spying from China as US regulators urged an investigation of Chinese-made telecom equipment in December 2017. It's the same reason AT&T dropped its deal with Huawei to offer the Mate 10 Pro on January 8.

Huawei's Mate 10 Pro with 5G networking capabilities seemingly falls under the category of Chinese-made telecom equipment under investigation, as the company has been accused of having ties with the Chinese government.

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

Related: U.S. Government Reportedly Wants to Build a 5G Network to Thwart Chinese Spying


Original Submission

Related Stories

U.S. Lawmakers Urge AT&T to Cut Ties With Huawei 17 comments

Exclusive: U.S. lawmakers urge AT&T to cut commercial ties with Huawei - sources

U.S. lawmakers are urging AT&T Inc, the No. 2 wireless carrier, to cut commercial ties to Chinese phone maker Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and oppose plans by telecom operator China Mobile Ltd to enter the U.S. market because of national security concerns, two congressional aides said.

[...] Earlier this month, AT&T was forced to scrap a plan to offer its customers Huawei handsets after some members of Congress lobbied against the idea with federal regulators, sources told Reuters.

The U.S. government has also blocked a string of Chinese acquisitions over national security concerns, including Ant Financial's proposed purchase of U.S. money transfer company MoneyGram International Inc.

The lawmakers are also advising U.S. firms that if they have ties to Huawei or China Mobile, it could hamper their ability to do business with the U.S. government, one aide said, requesting anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

Related: NSA Spied on Chinese Government and Huawei
Kaspersky Willing to Hand Source Code Over to U.S. Government
Kaspersky Lab has been Working With Russian Intelligence
FBI Reportedly Advising Companies to Ditch Kaspersky Apps
Federal Government, Concerned About Cyberespionage, Bans Use of Kaspersky Labs Products


Original Submission

U.S. Government Reportedly Wants to Build a 5G Network to Thwart Chinese Spying 23 comments

Trump security team sees building U.S. 5G network as option

President Donald Trump's national security team is looking at options to counter the threat of China spying on U.S. phone calls that include the government building a super-fast 5G wireless network, a senior administration official said on Sunday. The official, confirming the gist of a report from Axios.com, said the option was being debated at a low level in the administration and was six to eight months away from being considered by the president himself.

The 5G network concept is aimed at addressing what officials see as China's threat to U.S. cyber security and economic security. [...] "We want to build a network so the Chinese can't listen to your calls," the senior official told Reuters. "We have to have a secure network that doesn't allow bad actors to get in. We also have to ensure the Chinese don't take over the market and put every non-5G network out of business."

[...] Major wireless carriers have spent billions of dollars buying spectrum to launch 5G networks, and it is unclear if the U.S. government would have enough spectrum to build its own 5G network. [...] Another option includes having a 5G network built by a consortium of wireless carriers, the U.S. official said. "We want to build a secure 5G network and we have to work with industry to figure out the best way to do it," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Axios published documents it said were from a presentation from a National Security Council official. If the government built the network, it would rent access to carriers, Axios said.

Will it include "responsible encryption"?

Also at Newsweek and Axios.

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


Original Submission

U.S. Intelligence Agency Heads Warn Against Using Huawei and ZTE Products 23 comments

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

The U.S. Intelligence Community's Demonization of Huawei Remains Highly Hypocritical 51 comments

Submitted via IRC for Runaway1956

The U.S. Intel Community's Demonization of Huawei Remains Highly Hypocritical

We've noted for some time how Chinese hardware vendor Huawei has been consistently accused of spying on American citizens without any substantive, public evidence. You might recall that these accusations flared up several years ago, resulting in numerous investigations that culminated in no hard evidence whatsoever to support the allegations. We're not talking about superficial inquiries, we're talking about eighteen months, in-depth reviews by people with every interest in exposing them. One anonymous insider put it this way in the wake of the last bout of hysteria surrounding the company:

We knew certain parts of government really wanted" evidence of active spying, said one of the people, who requested anonymity. "We would have found it if it were there.

[...] This week, hysteria concerning Huawei again reached a fevered pitch, as U.S. intelligence chiefs, testifying before Congress over Russian hacking and disinformation concerns, again proclaimed that Huawei was spying on American citizens and their products most assuredly should not be used:

At the hearing, FBI Director Chris Wray testified, "We're 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." Purchasing Huawei or ZTE products, Wray added, "provides the capacity to maliciously modify or steal information. And it provides the capacity to conduct undetected espionage.

Which values would those be, exactly? Would it be the values, as leaked Edward Snowden docs revealed, that resulted in the NSA hacking into Huawei, stealing source code, then attempting to plant its own backdoors into Huawei products? Or perhaps it's the values inherent in working closely with companies like AT&T to hoover up every shred of data that touches the AT&T network and share it with the intelligence community? Perhaps it's the values inherent in trying to demonize encryption, by proxy weakening security for everyone?

Best Buy to Stop Selling Huawei Products 17 comments

Best Buy will cut ties with Huawei and stop selling Huawei products over the next few weeks. Huawei's smartphones, such as its new flagship Mate 10 Pro, are sold in the U.S. by retailers, but no U.S. wireless service provider will sell them. Now the largest electronics retailer in the U.S. is calling it quits:

The move, after similar actions from U.S. carriers including AT&T Inc, comes as U.S. scrutiny of Chinese tech firms grows amid simmering tensions over U.S.-China trade and concerns of security.

[...] Earlier this year, AT&T was forced to scrap a plan to offer Huawei handsets after some members of Congress lobbied against the idea with federal regulators, sources told Reuters. Verizon Communications Inc also ended its plans to sell Huawei phones last year, according to media reports.

Last month two Republican Senators introduced legislation that would block the U.S. government from buying or leasing telecommunications equipment from Huawei or Chinese peer ZTE Corp, citing concern the firms would use their access to spy on U.S. officials.

Also at CNET and Engadget.

Previously: U.S. Lawmakers Urge AT&T to Cut Ties With Huawei
Verizon Cancels Plans to Sell Huawei Phone Due to U.S. Government Pressure
U.S. Intelligence Agency Heads Warn Against Using Huawei and ZTE Products
The U.S. Intelligence Community's Demonization of Huawei Remains Highly Hypocritical


Original Submission

Huawei CEO Still Committed to the U.S. Market 8 comments

Huawei's consumer business group CEO Richard Yu is not giving up on selling smartphones and other devices in the U.S., despite warnings against the company made by U.S. government officials and a lack of support from retailers. The company recently released a new flagship smartphone, the Huawei P20 Pro:

"We are committed to the US market and to earning the trust of US consumers by staying focused on delivering world-class products and innovation," Yu told CNET in an email. "We would never compromise that trust."

The comments mark a defiant response to the vague warnings made by US officials that have effectively crippled Huawei's ability to get its phones in front of consumers. In January, AT&T pulled out of a landmark plan to sell the Mate 10 Pro, an important high-end Huawei phone. Verizon reportedly also scuttled a deal to carry the device based on political pressure. CNET was also first to report that Best Buy, the US' largest electronics retailer, dropped Huawei phones from its roster.

[...] "The security risk concerns are based on groundless suspicions and are quite frankly unfair," Yu said. "We welcome an open and transparent discussion if it is based on facts." [...] "We work with 46 of the 50 global operators," Yu told CNET, "And have maintained a very strong security record because security is one of our top priorities." [...] "Even without the United States market, we'll be No. 1 in the world," Yu said earlier this week.

Huawei reported a 27% jump in profits in 2017, despite its struggle to establish itself in the U.S. market.

See also: Huawei P20 launch highlights the risks of U.S. paranoia over Chinese security
Huawei's P20 Pro is a hugely promising phone that will upset Americans

Previously: U.S. Lawmakers Urge AT&T to Cut Ties With Huawei
Verizon Cancels Plans to Sell Huawei Phone Due to U.S. Government Pressure
The U.S. Intelligence Community's Demonization of Huawei Remains Highly Hypocritical


Original Submission

New Law Bans U.S. Government from Buying Equipment from Chinese Telecom Giants ZTE and Huawei 26 comments

President Trump yesterday signed a defense funding bill that included a sweeping ban on the US government using technology supplied by Chinese telecommunications giants ZTE and Huawei. The bill also includes a narrower ban on using surveillance gear provided by Chinese companies Hytera Communications, Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology, or Dahua Technology for national security applications.

The legislation directs federal agencies to stop using the Chinese-made hardware within two years. If that proves impractical, an agency can apply for a waiver to permit a longer phase-out period.

Obviously, being banned from selling to the US government is a significant blow to these companies. But overall the bill actually represents something of a reprieve for ZTE. Back in June, the US Senate passed a version of the bill that would have re-imposed an export ban that would have been a de facto death sentence for ZTE because ZTE is heavily dependent on components like Qualcomm chips and Google's Android operating system.

Previously: Verizon Cancels Plans to Sell Huawei Phone Due to U.S. Government Pressure
U.S. Intelligence Agency Heads Warn Against Using Huawei and ZTE Products
The U.S. Intelligence Community's Demonization of Huawei Remains Highly Hypocritical
Huawei CEO Still Committed to the U.S. Market
Rural Wireless Association Opposes U.S. Government Ban on Huawei and ZTE Equipment
ZTE Suspends Operations Due to U.S. Ban (UPDATED)


Original Submission

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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 31 2018, @10:16AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 31 2018, @10:16AM (#630893)

    processors and user-servicable signing keys, including the ability to wipe the vendor/oem signing key.

    And mandate source code for the firmware.

    Oh right... if these hard choices were made, people might start asking the US to do the same for US manufactured hardware/firmware and some stuff might come out that would put the US Government and its corporate cronies in an unflattering light...

    Seriously, if we want secure hardware we need to start pushing governments worldwide for truly open systems with user replaceable encryption and open and documented firmware/software at all levels of the stack. It won't stop shit like spectre, meltdown, or intentionally designed hardware exploits, but it will go a long ways towards helping reduce vectors of attack, and hopefully allow the hardware to be secure in a subset of usages without threat of remote access or exploit.

  • (Score: 2) by Wootery on Wednesday January 31 2018, @10:32AM (2 children)

    by Wootery (2341) on Wednesday January 31 2018, @10:32AM (#630896)

    I know we do this every time anyone mentions 5G, but...

    upcoming super-fast 5G network

    How about they sort 4G reception first? That would be far more valuable to the customer. Other than as a replacement for ordinary 'wired' home broadband, what use is 5G? 4G can easily stream video to a phone. What's the point in more bandwidth?

    5G is particularly pointless for anyone on a capped data package, which is virtually everyone.

    • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 31 2018, @11:27AM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 31 2018, @11:27AM (#630907)

      "What's the point in more bandwidth?

      5G is particularly pointless for anyone on a capped data package, which is virtually everyone."

      The point is, now you can blow through the cap in 10 minutes instead of needing to wait an hour or two! Do I hear "weaponized autoplay video ads"?

      • (Score: 2) by Wootery on Thursday February 01 2018, @11:24AM

        by Wootery (2341) on Thursday February 01 2018, @11:24AM (#631424)

        A valid concern, but it'll probably be ordinary ads that do it, not malicious intent.

        Some otherwise-decent mobile websites still have autoplaying videos, and browsers don't block them! e.g. TheOnion.com on Safari for iPhone.

        A thought occurs: what if Chrome for Android had an on-by-default policy of refusing to download more than 1MB of data for a website? Perhaps tune it more finely, say, no more than 500KB of JavaScript, but no cap on images or video.

  • (Score: 2) by Dale on Wednesday January 31 2018, @04:43PM (1 child)

    by Dale (539) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday January 31 2018, @04:43PM (#631010)

    What is the big deal? Are they afraid the Chinese are going to get the same information they are collecting on everyone already? Are they sad they can't sell it to them? They created the data vacuum thing a reality. How can they be upset when others do the same thing?

    I am not defending the concept at all. I'm just pointing out the pot getting into a name calling contest with the kettle with all their fear mongering.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 31 2018, @06:24PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 31 2018, @06:24PM (#631072)

      Consider what we created in World War II. We make nuclear weapons. That doesn't mean we want the whole rest of the world to have them. No, it isn't unethical or wrong for the rest of the world to want them, but we still aren't OK with that. We want the advantage, and we openly admit this.

      That continues to today. It wouldn't be unethical or wrong for Haiti or the Bahamas to get nuclear weapons. We still don't want that.

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