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UK Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson Sacked over Huawei Leak

bbc.com

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Re: UK Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson Sacked over Huawei Leak

#21

Post by westiseast »

jsty wrote: post #5
mtgx wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They probably couldn't even tell him how they caught him, because then they'd have to admit that GCHQ is spying on most government members, too.

Given the technical aptitude of most politicians in the UK, he may equally likely have used a government-issued device

This sprang to mind:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-15396956

Letwin had a habit of reading correspondence whilst in a public park in the mornings and then dumping it in public bins once dealt with. Mirror reporters just followed him around and fished sensitive material out of the bins.

Re: UK Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson Sacked over Huawei Leak

#22

Post by sp332 »

gnode wrote: post #11
expressrunning wrote: post #6

Relevant discussion a day ago: Vodafone Found Hidden Backdoors in Huawei Equipment https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19786102

While this is being touted as a smoking gun, calling it a "backdoor" may be reaching: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/04/30/huawei_enterprise_r...

I think this article is disingenuous. It's telnet on a nonstandard port with hardcoded credentials, that was added back in after being removed when it was spotted in previous security testing.

Edit: this according to one of the sources in the Bloomberg article, who claims to have read internal Vodaphone documents https://twitter.com/raistolo/status/1123283199348621312

Re: UK Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson Sacked over Huawei Leak

#23

Post by switch007 »

mathieuh wrote: post #19
TheOtherHobbes wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's more amazing that Williamson was ever Defence Minister in the first place. Latest: "Theresa May considers the matter closed." So there we are. No police investigation into a rather serious matter of national security. Meanwhile Williamson himself is absolutely insistent he's innocent and that the internal investigation was ineffective - which means that if he is innocent, someone else was responsible. And if he'…

The UK has a Crown Prosecution Service which is a public service responsible for bringing charges against people. It’s not up to HMG.

According to wikipedia Attorney General is responsible for the CPS, who answers to the Ministry of Justice...which is a Government department.

Re: UK Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson Sacked over Huawei Leak

#24

Post by DanBC »

insomniacity wrote: post #2

I'd love to know how he was caught. Not enough security on his phone - or old school interviews and sources?

He's a fucking idiot.

Here's the letter May sent, which makes it sound like regular interviewing and discussions: https://twitter.com/BBCBreaking/status/1123635838523465729

(But, obviously, the security services aren't going to say "we know it was him").

This, from Buzzfeed, about him is telling: https://www.buzzfeed.com/emilyashton/britains-new-defence-se...

Re: UK Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson Sacked over Huawei Leak

#25

Post by user5994461 »

13415 wrote: post #8

In general, this is one of the news threads that I persistently don't understand. There is too much information missing. Why are European countries so keen on allowing Huawei to build some critical infrastructure? Do they face threats from China? If so, how are these made? And then there is the other side of the coin, that the US allegations look credible overall, but it is also known that the NSA and GCHQ built spyi…

It's geopolitics. In short, when there is only a choice between US and Chinese manufacturers, whichever doesn't matter because they're both considered equally hostile. Chinese is cheaper though.

Re: UK Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson Sacked over Huawei Leak

#26

Post by Someone1234 »

13415 wrote: post #8

In general, this is one of the news threads that I persistently don't understand. There is too much information missing. Why are European countries so keen on allowing Huawei to build some critical infrastructure? Do they face threats from China? If so, how are these made? And then there is the other side of the coin, that the US allegations look credible overall, but it is also known that the NSA and GCHQ built spyi…

It is really quite simple: The US has yet to provide their evidence to European countries, or has and their evidence is so unconvincing nobody actioned it.

That's what this entire situation boils down to. The US has been making claims, now it is time to back those claims, until they do nobody should do anything. A lot of people suspect this is more about geopolitics than security for legitimate reasons.

Re: UK Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson Sacked over Huawei Leak

#27

Post by KaiserPro »

Veen wrote: post #12
TheOtherHobbes wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's also possible he didn't do it. He hasn't exactly impressed anyone - except himself - during his brief but very exciting tenure, and it's possible May was looking for an excuse to get rid of him while also pointing the finger at a convenient scapegoat. We'll see if this proceeds to a criminal investigation. My guess is it won't.

We'll see if this proceeds to a criminal investigation. My guess is it won't. It's amazing it got this far. Leak inquiries almost never discover a culprit (by design) and it's unheard of for a minister to actually get sacked for leaking.

true, but normally its a leak of policy, or something politically embarrassing. (brexit will be a great success/terrible failure because of x, delete to taste)

But this is different, this is a leak of an actual state secrets. This is much more secret because its expressly illegal. (the official secrets act makes many things vaguely illegal, but leaking things marked "secret" or similar is an actual offence.)

Not only is it illegal, its also leaking other country's intelligence, which is a massive nono

Re: UK Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson Sacked over Huawei Leak

#28

Post by inflatableDodo »

kodz4 wrote: post #20
TheOtherHobbes wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's more amazing that Williamson was ever Defence Minister in the first place. Latest: "Theresa May considers the matter closed." So there we are. No police investigation into a rather serious matter of national security. Meanwhile Williamson himself is absolutely insistent he's innocent and that the internal investigation was ineffective - which means that if he is innocent, someone else was responsible. And if he'…

Quite sure thats a Yes Minister episode.

All of Thatcher-In-The-Rye's tenure has been an extended 'Yes Minister' episode. Though I think the writers would never have gone quite as far as Boris 'Fuck Business' Johnson. Who may very well become our next PM.

Re: UK Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson Sacked over Huawei Leak

#29

Post by rjknight »

kodz4 wrote: post #20
TheOtherHobbes wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's more amazing that Williamson was ever Defence Minister in the first place. Latest: "Theresa May considers the matter closed." So there we are. No police investigation into a rather serious matter of national security. Meanwhile Williamson himself is absolutely insistent he's innocent and that the internal investigation was ineffective - which means that if he is innocent, someone else was responsible. And if he'…

Quite sure thats a Yes Minister episode.

As Williamson will no doubt appreciate, a similar story was an important plot point in the original UK House of Cards (the PM's brother was accused of taking advantage of inside knowledge of government decisions, the PM was implicated in leaking them to him, but the investigation was dropped as soon as he resigned).
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