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US says it can prove Huawei has backdoor access to mobile-phone networks

arstechnica.com

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Re: US says it can prove Huawei has backdoor access to mobile-phone networks

#201

Post by wangii »

ancorevard wrote: post #47
gruez wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>The US is essentially complaining that Huawei has access to the backdoor channels that only the US government was supposed to have. How is surprising? The defining characteristic of a nation state is that it has a monopoly on violence within its borders. Having a monopoly on intercepting telecom traffic is a logical consequence of that. For other countries though, yeah I'd prefer if neither China nor US have backdoo…

"I'd prefer if neither China nor US have backdoor access." So would I, but having lived in both countries, one of the two governments is decidedly more evil than the other.

nearly 20 years ago, George Bush talked about 'evil' countries, sent troops, and...

unless you are under 25 or deeply religious, I'd suggest to think twice before using 'evil' on subjects of international politics.

Re: US says it can prove Huawei has backdoor access to mobile-phone networks

#202

Post by jshowa3 »

tonyb wrote: post #155
AdmiralAsshat wrote: post #23

> Telecom-equipment makers who sell products to carriers "are required by law to build into their hardware ways for authorities to access the networks for lawful purposes," but they "are also required to build equipment in such a way that the manufacturer can't get access without the consent of the network operator," the Journal wrote. I love this quote. The US is essentially complaining that Huawei has access to the…

The features they aren't talking about aren't a "backdoor". It is well a well document feature of most service provider networking equipment that allows for the provider to respond to subpoenas. The data collection is explicitly configured by the service provider. The allegation is that Huawei can activate the lawful intercept feature without authorization from the service provider. The theory behind the lawful inter…

I'm sure the NSA see's this completely differently. While I understand what you mean, it's very hypocritical when you have agencies like the NSA rolling around.

Re: US says it can prove Huawei has backdoor access to mobile-phone networks

#203

Post by frequentnapper »

dependenttypes wrote: post #116
ancorevard wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"I'd prefer if neither China nor US have backdoor access." So would I, but having lived in both countries, one of the two governments is decidedly more evil than the other.

What is more dangerous for an American (or even European) citizen? The US or China spying at them? Even if China is more evil in its domestic affairs a western civilian has much more to fear from the US.

>Even if China is more evil in its domestic affairs a western civilian has much more to fear from the US.

Can you support this assertion?

Re: US says it can prove Huawei has backdoor access to mobile-phone networks

#204

Post by pests »

chimeracoder wrote: post #174
dustfinger wrote: post #100

Note: The following might be considered off-topic. On the otherhand, there might be something nefarious in the SMS network. I found something strange that affects SMS in Canada. You can send the lower case text "secure communication", but it will never be recieved by the recipient. I am not sure if this behavior is reproducible outside of Canada. It might be a software defect, or perhaps there is something capturing…

> I found something strange that affects SMS in Canada. You can send the lower case text "secure communication", but it will never be recieved by the recipient. This reminds me of how, until just a few years ago (as late as 2016), people were wondering why you couldn't tweet the phrase "Get better". It turned out that you can't tweet any phrase that begins with "Get" because... you guessed it, posting tweets from the…

Your [0] is funny to me because that was how I used and communicated with friend groups back in the early 2000s. Years later when Twitter blew up for real it was strange that facet was forgotten and the culture moved on. That's also the reason for the 140 char length vs the 160 or whatever the SMS limit is. The other characters were reserved for their username.

Re: US says it can prove Huawei has backdoor access to mobile-phone networks

#205

Post by frequentnapper »

jessaustin wrote: post #181
slimed wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's check back in a few decades and see if this still holds true. I suspect the current disparity is due the US holding the title of unchecked global super power for the past century while China is still getting up to speed. What happens when Belt & Road initiatives start to be expropriated by radical populist governments in the 2040's?

Do you think it will take that long? Surely China will expect its investments to start paying back before 2040? This still seems like a strange, "pre-crime" sort of standard to which to hold China. You're almost counting USA misdeeds against China: "since USA did all these horrible things, you can be sure China will do even worse, someday!"

Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. China has total control over its citizens/illegally occupied territories and look how its abused its power. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what would happen if China had global dominance that US currently enjoys - just someone disengenuous to pretend to ignore it.

Re: US says it can prove Huawei has backdoor access to mobile-phone networks

#207

Post by frequentnapper »

Aperocky wrote: post #182
Enginerrrd wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is dangerously naieve and short-sighted. Look at how readily China already uses our own corporations against us. ESPN showed a map of china with the nine-dash-line. Hollywood won't dare to offend the Chinese government. Our tech companies are willingly censoring themselves. Our corporations influence our politicians, and China is exerting influence on our corporations. If they have access to an enormous volume o…

> You think they’re going to be friendlier to American citizens? Yes, because American citizens are none of their business. Law enforcement and prosecution on the other hand is very interested.

hm.. China backs their multinational corporations into competing with other businesses globally. For example TikTok or all the construction firms that compete in Africa, Asia, etc.

Now let's imagine I am an American citizen/businessman competing with a Chinese businessman. I have a better product, better networks. Let's also imagine the scenario where the Chinese govt has more power and dominance than anybody else in the world. Do you still think an American citizen is none of their business?

How about if an American citizen happens to write an article criticizing Chinese govt? What would happen in the above scenario?

Re: US says it can prove Huawei has backdoor access to mobile-phone networks

#208

Post by SubiculumCode »

alasdair_ wrote: post #74
SubiculumCode wrote: post #66

I'm usually impressed with HN comments, but this thread is currently dominated by insubstantiated conspiratorial mongering against American institutions.

The problem is of those institutions own making. Many Americans lost their lives hunting for Saddam’s WMDs - something that was fabricated by said institutions. “Trust us” is no longer something we can blindly accept.

To be clear, I was not commenting on skepticism, but on making accusations of lying without evidence.

Re: US says it can prove Huawei has backdoor access to mobile-phone networks

#209

Post by wangii »

agoodthrowaway wrote: post #109
sam_lowry_ wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Judging by the number of wars it started in the last century... it's definitely the American.

I don’t really understand comments like this. US has lots of problems but we do have the semblance of rule of law. We do have the notion of transparency and you do not get sent to a labor camp if you have political views antithetical to the state. The Chinese can and do simply disappear people without the semblance of due process. Their history also is one of ethnic cleansing as the Han people have pushed out or marg…

don't worry, if American hadn't done these, it will. for starters, how about make Chinese govt. the evil force and every Chinese a potential threat?

seriously, I'm not even going to blame America. it's the tragedy of great power politics. to maintain its hegemony, it will and has done whatever takes. any illusion of moral superiority, is just illusion.

Re: US says it can prove Huawei has backdoor access to mobile-phone networks

#210

Post by slimed »

jessaustin wrote: post #181
slimed wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's check back in a few decades and see if this still holds true. I suspect the current disparity is due the US holding the title of unchecked global super power for the past century while China is still getting up to speed. What happens when Belt & Road initiatives start to be expropriated by radical populist governments in the 2040's?

Do you think it will take that long? Surely China will expect its investments to start paying back before 2040? This still seems like a strange, "pre-crime" sort of standard to which to hold China. You're almost counting USA misdeeds against China: "since USA did all these horrible things, you can be sure China will do even worse, someday!"

China plays a much longer game than the US. But sure, let's say next decade then. Your analogy is poor. I'm describing the behavior of all hegemonic empires in history. You seem to think the US is a special case. Why is that?
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