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Paranoia will destroy us: Why Huawei and other Chinese tech is not spying

zdnet.com

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Re: Paranoia will destroy us: Why Huawei and other Chinese tech is not spying

#61

Post by [deleted] »

alimw wrote: post #45
inflatableDodo wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the UK appears to have taken the pragmatic descision since Thatcher, that in anything serious these days it is either overrun or obliterated, so might as well buy the cheap stuff from our strategic rivals that will break down in an apocalypse and we can make some quick cash in the mean time selling off all the national technical base. edit - Has been going on since long before Thatcher, to be fair. There's an…

Not sure what sense to make of this: that in anything serious these days (World War III?) it is either overrun or obliterated ( would be either overrun or obliterated?) I tried clicking on your link to help me understand but it's to an hour-and-a-half long film (and not, I think, a documentary...)

[deleted]

Re: Paranoia will destroy us: Why Huawei and other Chinese tech is not spying

#63

Post by elp »

chvid wrote: post #51

First of all: This is not about "banning" Huawei in USA. Huawei is not in the US. It is about preventing the rest of the world in using Huawei. The Trump administration has spent the last year or so trying to convince allies not to use Huawei and apparently has failed to do so. So now it does this. Trump seems to think he can win an election on China; this may be the case. However doing so will probably hurt the long…

I don't think the President realizes just how much this will harm the USA in the long run.

He is basically telling the rest of the world to think long and hard before using any American tech in their products. Also his allies are increasingly less and less inclined to listen to him. The French have openly said they will continue to use Huawei. The Brits are going to use them anyway, the just didn't want the USA to know.

Edit: sorry. toned down the language.

Re: Paranoia will destroy us: Why Huawei and other Chinese tech is not spying

#64

Post by dogma1138 »

onlydeadheroes wrote: post #58
dogma1138 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You won’t get an open source baseband ever trough certification.

Does that matter for Huawei?

Since importing and even using those devices in the US, Europe and every other developed nation is a crime then yes it would.

Re: Paranoia will destroy us: Why Huawei and other Chinese tech is not spying

#65

Post by mantas »

Udik wrote: post #36
mantas wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a massive difference between foreign country spying on you and your own democratically elected government spying on you. Before you try to call US not democratic - don't. It is democratic. Especially when you compare to China. Of course, there's no perfect democracy and we can always work for more.

Except that for anyone who's not American, the US is a foreign country.

And who is not in NATO or other closely allied countryu

Re: Paranoia will destroy us: Why Huawei and other Chinese tech is not spying

#66

Post by mantas »

Grustaf wrote: post #43
mantas wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a massive difference between foreign country spying on you and your own democratically elected government spying on you. Before you try to call US not democratic - don't. It is democratic. Especially when you compare to China. Of course, there's no perfect democracy and we can always work for more.

Why is it better to be spied upon by a “democratic” country? Especially if that country has been known to start a dozen wars and topple numerous regimes in the last decade or so?

When you gotta pick one, even tiny difference is a difference.

Re: Paranoia will destroy us: Why Huawei and other Chinese tech is not spying

#67

Post by Yetanfou »

ymolodtsov wrote: post #20
RobertoG wrote: post #9

It surprise me that people take those allegations seriously. I mean, some spying is to be expected but not to justify the banning of all the company. I thought it was obvious that this have nothing to do with spying. Some elements in the USA government and legislative have decided that China could be a threat to American only superpower status. By the way, what happened with the Bloomberg allegations? (1) (1) - https…

I’m not sure how 5G infrastructure or smartphones threaten the status of a superpower in any sense. Also, at this point Bloomberg is already an outlet that can’t be trusted as they haven’t provided any follow-up to the Super Micro story.

Smartphones are universal data collection devices, each of which is capable of gathering audio-, video-, RF-, location-, motion- and activity-based intelligence. Some add various other capabilities like air pressure, temperature and humidity to the list. Controlling this massive data source is massively valuable. Since each device contains a fairly powerful radio transmitter they can also be used as jammers by those who control the (closed, proprietary) RF firmware. All these devices are battery-powered so they can not just be disabled by pulling the plug (or the battery in 'modern' devices).

5G infrastructure adds another layer to the intelligence gathering infrastructure as well as an even more powerful jamming capability. Cell towers are equipped with battery backup as well so they can not easily be disabled by cutting the power to the tower.

Any party in control of these assets has strategic and tactical advantages over their adversary: strategic in that this allows for intelligence gathering, tactical in that this allows for precise targeting, jamming, denial of service, control of connected infrastructure for whatever purpose and more [1].

[1] Controlling mobile infrastructure over a wide area adds the prospect of using it to defy 'stealth' (low radar cross-section) by capturing off-axis reflections, etc.

Re: Paranoia will destroy us: Why Huawei and other Chinese tech is not spying

#68

Post by xbmcuser »

throwaway8879 wrote: post #46
xbmcuser wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah tell that to all the people that were interned without any legal recourse by American intelligence. As someone that is not from the USA or China I think we should worry more about USA than China as the records shows it is USA that has kidnapped people from their own countries or 3rd country rather than China.

Or you know, we could worry about both the US and China? I come from a third-world country where my own government is looking to screw me over. There is some consolation in at least getting to choose who screws me over.

Oh we should worry about both I was just comparing the 2. To me currently USA is more dangerous than China hypothetical future spying through Huawei.

Re: Paranoia will destroy us: Why Huawei and other Chinese tech is not spying

#70

Post by dna_polymerase »

crystaln wrote: post #41
dna_polymerase wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The alternative is relying on US tech. While I get the point that Huawei could be spying on us later on, the US is the one nation we know is spying on us. All tech we use these days can be used for spying. The whole Huawei craze is just the U.S. realizing that they are no longer the only power to fear.

The US spying is subject to a strained but ultimately effective legal and constitutional system. There is no comparison between the US government's transgressions, and the Chinese government's complete unrestricted impunity to spy and infiltrate.

The spying is done by intelligence services. Services that have huge reputational problems, largely because they have nothing to fear and all the power. Whatever is going on inside those organizations is completely hidden from the government itself. What Snowden made available has shocked everyone, including those who should oversee the intelligence services.
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