Tuesday, October 23, 2012 

Top UK Defence Expert: "British Security At Risk From Huawei"


Britain’s national security is being put at risk because a Chinese telecoms giant is being given too much access, the former head of the Minister of Defence’s cyber security unit warned.

Major General Jonathan Shaw claimed ministers were ‘compromising’ on security and ‘dealing with the devil’ in opening up to the firm Huawei. A former assistant chief of defence staff, he had specific responsibility for cyber security at the Ministry of Defence (MoD) for more than three years until April.

This month a US congressional report published earlier this month that raised security concerns about Huawei and another Chinese telecoms company, ZTE.

Major General Shaw told investigative website Exaro: ‘The economy is in such a mess that the government feels that it has to compromise on security in favour of continued economic freedom. ‘So, it is dealing with the devil and I think that the government is very conscious of that now.

 ‘Certainly there are enough people in the [intelligence] agencies who are saying that, but they are also aware of the economic cost of not dealing with Huawei.‘The concern over corporate espionage is a bit like global warming. It is not today’s issue. But, by God, it is there.'
 
Earlier this month it emerged Huawei, which has been accused of posing a threat to America's national security, was being investigated over a controversial £2.5 billion deal with British Telecom.

‘There is the very real fear that the extent of Huawei’s current telecoms penetration could mean that in the long term we shall have lost so much intellectual property by the time we put our house in order that there will be no economy left to recover.’ Australia blocked Huawei bidding for a government contract this year, citing national security, and Canada is said to be considering following suit.

Huawei first entered the UK in 2001, and has invested especially heavily in the country since 2005.  Last September Prime Minister David Cameron hosted Huawei’s founder, Ren Zhengfei, a former People’s Army officer, to Downing Street. Later Huawei announced plans to invest a further £1.3billion in the UK.

Larry Wortzel, a member of the US-China economic and security review commission, a US congressional body, said: ‘Any government should have substantial concerns about the activities of Huawei.’

dailymail.co.uk  

-ATTENTION PREMIER BRAD WALL: Former Nortel exec warns against working with Huawei

posted by leftdog at Tuesday, October 23, 2012 | |

Wednesday, October 10, 2012 

Ottawa Set To Ban Huawei From Bidding On Telecommunications Work - MEANWHILE Sask Premier Brad Wall Signs Business Deal With 'National Security Risk'


Brad Wall's entire political schtick is to portray himself as a wizard of business and economics. However, signing a deal with Huawei, a Chinese telco is being slammed as risky .. dangerous in fact.

"Ottawa Set To Ban Chinese Firm From Telecommunications Bid 

"Citing a rarely used national-security protocol, Ottawa has sent a signal to Chinese telecom equipment giant Huawei Technologies that it would block the firm from bidding to build the Canadian government’s latest telecommunications and e-mail network. 

Shenzen-based Huawei is riding a storm of suspicion. On Monday, a powerful U.S. congressional committee called the company a threat to U.S. security and recommended that its products be excluded from government computer systems. Canada’s national surveillance and cryptology agency, the Communications Security Establishment, has warned the military of potential security risks in installing Huawei’s equipment.

The chill in relations with one Chinese company comes as the Harper government works to define an evolving relationship. The Conservatives are contemplating allowing a state-owned Chinese firm to buy a piece of the oil sands and are being encouraged by Beijing to enter into free-trade talks.

A spokesman for Prime Minister Stephen Harper fielding questions about Huawei on Tuesday said Ottawa recently invoked an infrequently used national-security exception that allows it to override trade agreement obligations and restrict bidders on contracts to supply parts of what’s been called Ottawa’s super network: a secure, centralized pipe for e-mail, phone calls and data.

Ottawa is being coy about which countries or suppliers will be locked out. But Mr. Harper’s director of communications hinted strongly that Huawei would be left in the cold.

“The government is going to be choosing carefully in the construction of this network and it has invoked the national security exception for the building of this network,” Andrew MacDougall told reporters during an unrelated briefing.

“I’ll leave it to you if you think that Huawei should be a part of [the] Canadian government security system,” Mr. MacDougall said.

Also Tuesday, one of Canada’s former top spies spoke out against granting Huawei a foothold in Ottawa’s sensitive phone and e-mail system.

“They pose enough of a threat perspective that I wouldn’t let them into any government networks,” Ray Boisvert, who was assistant director of intelligence for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service until he retired six months ago.

“They’re linked and tied to the Chinese state, and in my view they would, when asked, facilitate the interests of the Chinese military or the security intelligence apparatus,” he said of the privately owned Huawei. Mr. Boisvert said damage from economic espionage is now on par with the threat posed by al-Qaeda. “It has become equal to the threat of terrorism. Why? It has such long-term repercussions. The future prosperity of Canadians.”

Globe & Mail

-CBC: Huawei corruption allegations given to FBI -(U.S. intelligence committee hands over evidence of possible bribery by Chinese telecommunications giant)


Photo courtesy CBC Saskatchewan ... 

posted by leftdog at Wednesday, October 10, 2012 | |

Friday, March 29, 2013 

Ooops! Saskatchewan's Brad Wall Signs Deals With Chinese Telecom That Canada Now Restricts


Reuters
Huawei Technologies, the mainland's largest phone equipment maker, may face additional restrictions selling its products in Canada as the federal government considers new regulations on foreign wireless suppliers it deems security risks.

 Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government is reviewing whether it needs rules to govern the equipment used by the country's biggest mobile phone operators, and has been consulting industry officials, said a person familiar with the matter.

 While the review is not singling out any company, Canada's trade minister, Ed Fast, said this month that Huawei, which supplies both Telus and Bell Canada, the country's largest telephone company, has already been barred from providing equipment for (federal) government networks. (Note: Saskatchewan has signed deals with Huawei for equipment and technology necessary to bring highspeed service to rural parts of the province).


 Ray Boisvert, former assistant director of intelligence at the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the country's spy agency, said: "It's a manageable risk if you can implement some verification systems and accept that suppliers like Huawei are working to try to be as transparent as possible."

 The review comes as Western nations increasingly view cyberattacks as a top security threat. Computer-based sabotage moved past terrorism to take top place in the US intelligence community's annual list of global threats, which also includes Iran's nuclear programme and Syria's chemical arsenal. Canada could require that suppliers have their software code verified by third parties and be subject to random audits, Boisvert said.

 The country's industry minister, Christian Paradis, said Canada was aware of security concerns surrounding foreign wireless equipment providers. "This is something that we clearly have to pay attention to," Paradis said.

 A US congressional committee said in October that Huawei and ZTE provided opportunities for Chinese intelligence services to tamper with telecommunications networks for spying. In 2011 the US barred Huawei from taking part in building a nationwide emergency network. However, the company supplies US companies including Clearwire, a Washington-based wireless internet provider.

 A decision by Canada to impose tighter security measures could drive up costs for carriers who are already investing billions of dollars to upgrade their networks to accommodate a surge in wireless data traffic. Aside from Bell Canada and Telus, Huawei's customers also include Wind Mobile of Toronto, which began operations in 2009.

 Such a review could help suppliers ease concerns about their practices, said Amit Kaminer, an analyst at the Seaboard Group, a Toronto-based telecommunications research firm.

-Buckdog has more posts on Saskatchewan/Huawei deal ... 



 
Progressive Bloggers

posted by leftdog at Friday, March 29, 2013 | |

Sunday, December 16, 2012 

Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall May Want To Pay Attention To British Security Intelligence Report On Chinese Telecom Giant Huawei


Chinese Telecom giant could be cyber-security risk to Britain - PM may blacklist Huawei if report declares it a threat:

 "Britain could face a damaging multibillion-pound trade war with China and see the roll-out of economically vital 4G mobile internet services derailed if an intelligence report, due to land on David Cameron's desk within the next two weeks, finds that the UK operations of the Chinese communications giant Huawei represents a threat to the UK's cyber-security. [...]   

Concerns over the potential for state cyber-espionage involving Huawei has recently seen the US House of Representatives' intelligence committee recommend that the Shenzhen-based company be restricted from operating on US soil. In Australia it has been excluded from bidding to supply the lucrative national fibre network. A similar move is under consideration by Canada. [...]

The US House of Representatives' report was critical of how Chinese firms, including Huawei, co-operated with its investigation. It said Chinese companies believed any internal information was a "state secret" that could only be made public if approved by the Chinese government. This, the intelligence report concluded, "only heightens concerns about Chinese government control". It admitted that the lack of evidence limited any clear-cut conclusions. However, the report insisted that Chinese telecommunications "provide an opportunity for the Chinese government to tamper with the United States telecommunications supply chain".
On the technological "vulnerabilities" of particular Huawei products or components, the report said it did not attempt a full evaluation, but nevertheless said it "took seriously recent allegations of back doors, or other unexpected elements" in key telecoms products.

Huawei denies any link between its international business operations and state-sponsored cyber-spying. Its official response to the US report said the allegations were "a monstrous, market-distorting, trade-distorting policy precedent that could be used in other markets against American companies".
Independent.UK


-Previous Buckdog Blog posts concerning Brad Wall's ill considered contract with Huawei ...

posted by leftdog at Sunday, December 16, 2012 | |

Thursday, October 11, 2012 

ATTENTION PREMIER BRAD WALL: Former Nortel exec warns against working with Huawei

(Click on pic to enlarge ... )


 Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall is being forced to defend a recent contract signing between Chinese IT company, Wuawei and SaskTel.  

... but maybe that wasn't such a great idea!  

"Canadian companies should not work with Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei, a former security adviser at Nortel warns.

Brian Shields, who was the senior systems security adviser at failed Canadian telecommunications company Nortel, says working with Huawei is too big a risk. Shields alleges Huawei spent years hacking into Nortel's system and stealing information so it could compete with Nortel on world markets.

"These kind of things are not done by just average hackers. I believe these are nation-state [kinds] of activity," he told the CBC's Greg Weston, blaming China for the hacking.

"It was on behalf of Huawei and ZTE and other Chinese companies that could have used this information to compete against us in the marketplace. It gave them a strategic advangage. How can you survive when you have a competitor basically right there knowing all your moves, what you're doing, what you see as the future products?" Shields said.

The U.S. intelligence committee warned in a report Monday of the risk of spying that comes with working with Huawei and another Chinese telecommunications firm, ZTE. The committee said U.S. regulators should block attempted mergers and acquisitions by the firms, and that the government should avoid using components from those firms in their systems.

The head of the U.S. intelligence committee, Mike Rogers, told CBC News that Canada should also be wary.

The world’s second-largest telecommunications equipment supplier, Huawei is already providing high-speed networks for Bell Canada, Telus, SaskTel and Wind Mobile."
CBC.ca

UPDATE:
-Britain scrutinizes Huawei's telecoms infrastructure role   
..... but Premier Brad Wall knows better than the Gov't of the UK and the US Intelligence Committee!

Photo courtesy CBC .... 

posted by leftdog at Thursday, October 11, 2012 | |

Wednesday, October 10, 2012 

Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall Signs Business Deal With Chinese Company That Is Causing National Security Worries


Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall recently traveled to the People's Republic of China to witness the signing of an agreement between SaskTel and Huawei Canada. The agreement is intended to bring next generation wireless broadband technology to parts of rural Saskatchewan. 

But there are some serious concerns with Saskatchewan's agreement with Huawei.  The fact that the United States House of Representatives’ Intelligence Committee has strongly urged American firms to stop doing business with Huawei makes you wonder if Wall did sufficient 'due diligence' before signing on with the Chinese company.

SaskTel's President, Ron Styles would not disclose to reporters if any discussions have occurred with CSIS. The fact that the Harper government gave Premier Wall an exemption to bypass national security measures should start ringing some alarm bells.

"According to a scathing report released in Washington on our Thanksgiving Monday, our neighbour and biggest trade partner has deemed Huawei a threat to U.S. national security and bluntly told its own American telecommunications companies to "find other vendors." Huawei's involvement in building American networks risks the possibility of Chinese cyber-spies stealing U.S. state and commercial secrets or perhaps disrupting everything from America's power grids to its banking systems, the Congressional committee warned.

"This is your personal data. This could be your medical records, your financial records, everything that you hold dear that you think is locked away in a safe place on your computer," committee chairman Mike Rogers told the CBC, explaining that imbedded electronic bugs in Huawei gear secretly transmitting data back to China have been "reported".
"The key word there is 'new secure network'; I would not have the faith and confidence (in Hua-wei)."

[...] It is the latter point that should be of particular concern to Premier Brad Wall, who has always been quick to remind us of the value of America as a trading partner. In fact, Wall was highly critical this summer of Democrat President Barack Obama as being bad for Canada. One might suspect some Republican politicians might have similar feelings about Saskatchewan's dealings with Huawei.
Regina Leader-Post

"David Skillicorn, professor at the School of Computing at Queen’s University, said the company (Huawei) was heavily implicated in the theft of technology from former Canadian tech darling, Nortel Networks. Reports after Nortel went bankrupt in 2009 suggested hackers had wandered unimpeded inside Nortel’s networks, including the chief executive’s terminal, for a decade." 
National Post

Way to go ... Brad!

posted by leftdog at Wednesday, October 10, 2012 | |

Tuesday, January 08, 2013 

Los Alamos National Laboratory Removes Huawei Products ... While Brad Wall Hands Rural Saskatchewan Cell Coverage To Huawei


(Reuters) - A leading U.S. nuclear weapons laboratory recently discovered its computer systems contained some Chinese-made network switches and replaced at least two components because of national security concerns, a document shows. 

 A letter from the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, dated November 5, 2012, states that the research facility had installed devices made by H3C Technologies Co, based in Hangzhou, China, according to a copy seen by Reuters. H3C began as a joint venture between China's Huawei Technologies Co and 3Com Corp, a U.S. tech firm, and was once called Huawei-3Com. Hewlett Packard Co acquired the firm in 2010. 

 The discovery raises questions about procurement practices by U.S. departments responsible for national security. The U.S. government and Congress have raised concerns about Huawei and its alleged ties to the Chinese military and government. The company, the world's second-largest telecommunications equipment maker, denies its products pose any security risk or that the Chinese military influences its business. 

Switches are used to manage data traffic on computer networks. The exact number of Chinese-made switches installed at Los Alamos, how or when they were acquired, and whether they were placed in sensitive systems or pose any security risks, remains unclear. The laboratory - where the first atomic bomb was designed - is responsible for maintaining America's arsenal of nuclear weapons. A spokesman for the Los Alamos lab referred enquiries to the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration, or NNSA, which declined to comment.  
Reuters

-Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall Signs Business Deal With Chinese Company That Is Causing National Security Worries 

 -ATTENTION PREMIER BRAD WALL: Former Nortel exec warns against working with Huawei

posted by leftdog at Tuesday, January 08, 2013 | |

Thursday, June 06, 2013 

PM Harper And Premier Wall Are Putting North American Security At Risk By Allowing Huawei To Participate In Major Canadian Telecommunications Projects


Progressive Bloggers

The former head of U.S. counter-espionage says the Harper government is putting North American security at risk by allowing a giant Chinese technology company to participate in major Canadian telecommunications projects.

In an exclusive interview in Washington, Michelle K. Van Cleave told CBC News the involvement of Huawei Technologies in Canadian telecom networks risks turning the information highway into a freeway for Chinese espionage against both the U.S. and Canada.

Huawei has long argued there is no evidence linking the company to the growing tidal wave of international computer hacking and other forms of espionage originating in China.
Nonetheless, the U.S. and Australia have already blocked Huawei from major telecom projects in those countries, and otherwise made it clear they regard China's largest telecommunications company as a potential security threat.

Van Cleave, who served as top spy-catcher for the Bush administration until 2006, describes Huawei as a potential "stalking horse" for Chinese military and intelligence objectives. Even Canada's own intelligence agencies have warned the Harper government of the risks of throwing open the door to Chinese telecom companies. [...]

'Considerable risk' to Canadians

The Harper government's own Department of Public Safety warned more than a year ago that Canada's telecommunications network is too important to be left to foreign companies. In a secret memo written in 2011 and obtained under the Access to Information Act, a senior public safety official says "the security and intelligence community" believes that throwing open the Canadian telecom market to foreign companies "would pose a considerable risk to public safety and national security."

CBC.ca

posted by leftdog at Thursday, June 06, 2013 | |

Friday, October 12, 2012 

CBS 60 Minutes: "The Threat From Huawei" - Oct 8, 2012



The recent report by The US House Intelligence Committee concerning Huawei is causing concern in Saskatchewan in view of the $70 Million dollar contract recently signed between the Saskatchewan Party government and the Chinese company.

60 Minutes did this feature based on the House Report. 

Someone in Premier Wall's administration should watch this.


posted by leftdog at Friday, October 12, 2012 | |



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