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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
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 15 2018, @01:09PM (16 children)
I actually read these news in two interpretation modes.
- These vendors produce phones in which we have a hard time getting into.
- These vendors refused to put backdoors for us in their phones.
Either way seems like these phones are the safest ones to use.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Subsentient on Thursday February 15 2018, @02:05PM (15 children)
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." -Jiddu Krishnamurti
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 15 2018, @02:18PM (9 children)
(Score: 4, Insightful) by frojack on Thursday February 15 2018, @04:51PM (4 children)
The allegation was not that they would do anything to the owner.
The TLAs are worried that these companies may be trying to get their gear onto US networks for nefarious reasons
Gee, what could you do with several hundred thousand federated processors hiding on an adversaries network?
Who better to know that than US spy agencies?
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 15 2018, @07:02PM (3 children)
So the yearly complete and utter humiliation of US spying efforts is a bad thing?
Why should anyone care whether they win or lose, when its pretty clear that US intelligence agencies are against everybody, domestic and foreign?
If one can't defend own network against a few hundred thousand cellphones, while consuming a budget that size...
IMO, they should be laughed at, for being INCOMPETENT RETARDS.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Thursday February 15 2018, @07:28PM
Reading comprehension much?
There was a trial balloon floated to have a nationalized 5G network [documentcloud.org] owned and operated by the government.
However, you seem to be the only one that assumes it already exists.
Maybe you want to look into who owns and runs the networks in this country (Clue, its not the government) before you start calling other people INCOMPETENT RETARDS.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by Subsentient on Friday February 16 2018, @04:32AM (1 child)
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." -Jiddu Krishnamurti
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 22 2018, @03:47AM
China is worse? China's record in foreign relations is far from spotless, but I see that the United States's record for meddling in world affairs for its own benefit is still darker, even counting only what they have done since the end of World War II. They have manipulated and encouraged repressive dictatorships throughout Latin America (El Salvador, Guatemala, Chile, etc.), aided and abetted genocide (East Timor, Guatemala), and engaged in multiple unprovoked wars of aggression (Vietnam, Iraq, Grenada, Panama, etc.). China has done some terrible things to other countries too in the same period but nothing on the scale of what the United States has done. Sure, the Chinese annexed Tibet and have propped up North Korea and the Khmer Rouge (bearing a portion of the responsibility for the Cambodian genocide) among other things, but is the scale and scope of their foreign manipulation really greater than that of the US? I think not. But I will agree it is not for lack of trying.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday February 15 2018, @08:54PM (3 children)
The problem is that the US has the same lack of reason. The back door isn't there because they expect to break in to all those phones, it's there because they want the capability.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 15 2018, @10:12PM (2 children)
(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday February 16 2018, @12:28AM (1 child)
The black hat exploiting the backdoor is most likely to be the one with a reason to break into your phone.
(Score: 1) by anubi on Friday February 16 2018, @04:24AM
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]
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 15 2018, @02:56PM (2 children)
When choosing between two unethical entities, one of which is blatant and clear about it, and another one that poses an angel and denies facts even after being caught red handed countless of times and enough to have become a well known meme all around the world, I would chose the former.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by DeathMonkey on Thursday February 15 2018, @07:28PM
Well that's the easy part.
The hard part is telling which one is which.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday February 16 2018, @01:27AM
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 15 2018, @04:14PM
Meh. It's just the ruling class getting us ready for World War 3.
They've already decided it's going to happen. We don't have any say in it.
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Thursday February 15 2018, @09:41PM
"Yes, because the Chinese communist party is so ethical, and chinese corporations have such a great track record for doing the right thing."
Yes, because the American government is so ethical, and American corporations have such a great track record for doing the right thing.
Yes, because the American government is so ethical, and Microsoft has such a great track record for doing the right thing.
Yada yada Fuddle Duddle
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Thursday February 15 2018, @04:55PM (2 children)
What goes around comes around.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Thursday February 15 2018, @07:31PM (1 child)
Cisco and Dell (eventually) fess up to their vulnerabilities. Sometimes they even fix them.
Maybe the NSA/CIA should just leak what they know to some actual hackers so they can suddenly "find" these worry-some back doors and publish sensational articles about zero day vulnerabilities.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 15 2018, @08:50PM
Yet none of these companies will stop producing proprietary software and locked-down devices. They are all guilty.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by aiwarrior on Thursday February 15 2018, @05:03PM
LOL
I wanted my comment to be just that, but I feel I need to explain further my state of mind.
The American propaganda hypocrisy is in such a high gear that now not even the New York Times can be read without the same tinfoil hat I use for Russia Today. I mean seriously:
* After the whole world got to know that America taps other countries optical fiber links, using American companies to do their bidding;
* After forcing Microsoft to follow American law in Ireland data centers;
* After [insert all Snowden revealed shit]
[Punchline]
*Horatio Caine puts sunglasses*: You know people, Huawei is bad for you.
There is only one immediate threat I feel from Huawei: They are competitor to my employer, that is it.
Bonus off-topic hypocrisy because San Diego just had a huge Hepatitis A outbreak due to the amount of filth of homeless people. Take a look at this cute Chinese girl and how it is worse in China: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/02/15/world/asia/girl-leaving-beijing.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=second-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news [nytimes.com]
I stand by American's team in the world stage but as a nation there are very serious topics that need reflection.
PS: Can we have mod-up disagree?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 15 2018, @05:21PM
OK, so Chinese and US products are all suspect.
What might a secure alternative be? Nokia Asha-based phones perhaps?
Assuming of course Microsoft hasn't gotten their slimy tentacles into Asha yet.
(Score: 1) by mrkaos on Thursday February 15 2018, @11:32PM
Since I'm going to be spied on by someone and it's out of my control, why should I care who it is?
My ism, it's full of beliefs.