A report from Britain comes to confirm the accusations of the Trump administration against Huawei, according to which the company is used by the Chinese government for espionage. According to the British report, many “significant” security problems were found with Huawei's telecommunications equipment.
The vulnerabilities found can be used by hackers and governments, putting the country's security at risk.
America has proposed banning Huawei. However, there are some issues. Many countries, including Britain, do not agree with this. The company's products may be dangerous, but the company is a key supplier of the equipment required for building 5G networks. Governments will invest billions of dollars in wireless 5G networks as they are essential for the rapid digitization of the global economy.
Moreover, technology is essential not only for mobile but also in the healthcare sector as well as in the construction and transportation sectors. Therefore, if countries decide to ban it, there may be consequences. For example, they may not be able to adopt 5G technology soon.
Based on this data, some countries, such as Germany, India and the United Arab Emirates, refuse to ban its equipment but are trying to reduce the risks.
Huawei, on the other hand, said that it perceives the United Kingdom's concerns and takes them into account.
One of the main concerns of the United States and other countries that agree with the ban on Huawei is the company's close ties to the Chinese government.
The United States advised Britain “to carefully examine its telecommunications suppliers in order to ensure the maximum security of its networks». The British authorities are trying to differentiate Huawei's security flaws from a broader effort by Beijing to infiltrate its networks.
According to the report, most of the problems stemmed from technical flaws in Huawei's equipment.
A senior official of the US government said that the British report amplifies concerns about security risks and the cost that the use of cheaper Huawei equipment in 5G networks may entail.
Huawei may be hiding behind poor software development practices that allow an exploitable bug to be introduced. Of course, experts don't expect to find obvious "back doors" in Huawei's code. Instead, there could be "bug doors" - flaws that could be explained away as a simple mistake if discovered, but that could be exploited by China or other hackers to gain access to network data.
Britain, for about 9 years now, has established a supervisory committee that oversees Huawei's operations. When British authorities began identifying security issues, Huawei committed to improving software and security processes, spending billions of dollars.
Germany also set up a lab in Bonn to examine Huawei's equipment and code. Huawei itself, in its effort to reassure the European Union, opened a similar facility in Brussels.
British authorities believe that with strict control they can address the risks of Huawei's products. However, the company needs significant improvement.
