Vodafone Found Hidden Backdoors in Huawei Equipment • Hacker News Board

Re: Vodafone Found Hidden Backdoors in Huawei Equipment

#41

Post by SiempreViernes » Tue, Apr 30, 2019, 9:11 AM UTC

jeroenhd wrote: post #27

SiempreViernes wrote: post #19

> Abandoning Huawei for 5G, with Europe already lagging behind China and the U.S., could force them to rip out the supplier’s 4G gear Does anyone know what this is about? Both the need to rip out 4G gear if they don't want to use the new 5G stuff, and also the statement about Europe being behind China and the USA?

I think the idea is that Europe would rip out all Huawei components after the scandal, requiring a revamp of both 4G and 5G networks. I doubt the US is that much ahead of Europe. It's true 5G networks are yet to really roll out, but with the higher population density the 4G coverage and residential internet is better in most of Europe, making the current 4G network suffice for now for many people.

Yeah, Bloomberg themselves list Nokia and Ericsson as the next largest actors on the market after Huawei in an infographic, and I don't think those count as US companies so I'm not sure what that comment was about.

Re: Vodafone Found Hidden Backdoors in Huawei Equipment

#42

Post by gloflo » Tue, Apr 30, 2019, 9:12 AM UTC

danarmak wrote: post #23

negamax wrote: post #15

I can’t tell if this is true or an organized smear campaign against Huawei for monetary reasons.

Why not both? Many routers have had remote access vulnerabilities, but there's a clear reason to write about 2012-era vulns about Huawei and not some other manufacturer.

What would be that reason?

Re: Vodafone Found Hidden Backdoors in Huawei Equipment

#43

Post by amelius » Tue, Apr 30, 2019, 9:13 AM UTC

mr__y wrote: post #36

amelius wrote: post #14

Can't Huawei just license their technology to a US firm, so this hardware can be implemented and produced under US supervision?

>Chinese company licensing their technology to a US company that would be a remarkable plot-twist On the other hand given how sophisticated these things are , even if all the source code is available you can't be 100% sure to spot all the bugs/vulnerabilities/backdoors. I guess this applies to hardware equally well.

I mean at a higher level: their algorithms and analog designs licensed to the US, not the source code.

Re: Vodafone Found Hidden Backdoors in Huawei Equipment

#44

Post by pizzapill » Tue, Apr 30, 2019, 9:13 AM UTC

VvR-Ox wrote: post #17

steve19 wrote: post #5

Hard to know from the article, and Bloomberg does not have a good track record, if the 'backdoor' was a vulnerability , an unwanted feature or an actual backdoor. I might imagine a Chinese headline with "US firm Intel backdoors every CPU", which may or may not be true depending on your feelings on Intel ME

Intel ME _is_ a backdoor. The funny thing is that there are many more. Interesting how the EU is dealing with this - most media seems to focus on how badly china could be spying while the US proved they aren't trustworthy long before.

Pretty obvious how the EU will deal with it. I once read the official statement of the German government that there is no way the US is spying on us while walking past dozens of huge radomes on a US base close to ESA hq.

I read the news when it was discovered that our intelligence service regularly updated NSA selectors to spy on internet users and never looked into what they were updating. Suddenly they "found out" that the US wasn't looking as much for terrorists but more for industrial secrets. Ups, who would've thought.

I don't want to spied on by the Chinese government but it doesn't matter much when I'm 100% spied on by at least the USA and the UK.

Re: Vodafone Found Hidden Backdoors in Huawei Equipment

#45

Post by O_H_E » Tue, Apr 30, 2019, 9:14 AM UTC

I was skeptical about "boycotting" China and Huawei for a long time; just thought that they make cheap phones, and innovative tech, so why not.

I changed 180 degrees when I started learning about the growing Chinese influence, how politically corrupt they are, and the excessive violence and human rights violations exercised against minorities.

China is growing its economic dominance very quickly. They are gaining many growing Asian and African countries under their belts (pun intended with the belt & road initiative [1])

These poor counties don't really have a say when offered china's generous offers, but we do.

It is going to be expensive, just like trying to fix climate change is: We have to be willing to pay to fix our mistakes (or other people in our society, if we want better future for our [grand]kids. But we will only be paying the price of our mistakes: depending that much on sweatshops, factory workers who are paid next to nothing, and collaborating with an authoritarian regime that clearly opposed our values for the longest time.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belt_and_Road_Initiative Concentration camps and race-based terrorism in Xinjiang: https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-life-like-in-xinjian... Belt and road effect on nature: https://www.businessinsider.com/china-belt-road-encourages-i...

PS: I agree with the stance on bloomberg, but that doesn't really defy my point. I just had to get something off my chest.

Re: Vodafone Found Hidden Backdoors in Huawei Equipment

#46

Post by swarnie_ » Tue, Apr 30, 2019, 9:15 AM UTC

NotPaidToPost wrote: post #16

swarnie_ wrote: post #13

Has anyone else noticed the increased "scrutiny" the US has been putting on Chinese companies recently? Huawei seems to be the biggest example and its worrying me because they are starting to strong arm EU allies to follow in their footsteps. Both Germany and the UK have cleared Huawei to take put in 5g rollouts against the USA's wishes. I'm not sure who to side with here, the company with multiple allegations agains…

Telecommunication is of strategic importance and the West has had a monopoly on it. This monopoly had ended and that makes some people uncomfortable. > Both Germany and the UK have cleared Huawei to take put in 5g rollouts France has as well, as they said that all suppliers will be treated equally and subject to the same security tests.

> France has as well, as they said that all suppliers will be treated equally and subject to the same security tests.

This is the bit that gets me. I simply don't believe you would approve a supplier with a question mark over them without running it past GCHQ/MI5/MI6 ect..... Presumably Germany and France did the same thing with their security services.

It leaves me wondering if the US know something their 3 closest allies don't or if their position is purely economic/ideological.

Re: Vodafone Found Hidden Backdoors in Huawei Equipment

#47

Post by zihotki » Tue, Apr 30, 2019, 9:19 AM UTC

amelius wrote: post #43

mr__y wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Chinese company licensing their technology to a US company that would be a remarkable plot-twist On the other hand given how sophisticated these things are , even if all the source code is available you can't be 100% sure to spot all the bugs/vulnerabilities/backdoors. I guess this applies to hardware equally well.

I mean at a higher level: their algorithms and analog designs licensed to the US, not the source code.

That'd take ages to implement and billions of dollars. Doesn't seem realistic

Re: Vodafone Found Hidden Backdoors in Huawei Equipment

#48

Post by icebraining » Tue, Apr 30, 2019, 9:21 AM UTC

O_H_E wrote: post #45

I was skeptical about "boycotting" China and Huawei for a long time; just thought that they make cheap phones, and innovative tech, so why not. I changed 180 degrees when I started learning about the growing Chinese influence, how politically corrupt they are, and the excessive violence and human rights violations exercised against minorities. China is growing its economic dominance very quickly. They are gaining man…

What do you suggest we do? I'm asking in good faith; I think the worries of the influence of the CPC in the world are valid, but China can't simply be boycotted like any small country, and it's also not clear to me those boycotts (Cuba, Iran, etc) really effect change.

Re: Vodafone Found Hidden Backdoors in Huawei Equipment

#49

Post by andrzejg » Tue, Apr 30, 2019, 9:23 AM UTC

It would be nice if they compare Huaweii to other vendors. I am quite sure Erricson and Nokia had some backdoors/critical vulnerabilities as well. It is quite common if the policies are poor and they skip some penetration tests. I don't think anyone would make such silly backdoors on purpose (like unsecured telnet connection).

Re: Vodafone Found Hidden Backdoors in Huawei Equipment

#50

Post by bildung » Tue, Apr 30, 2019, 9:26 AM UTC

gloflo wrote: post #42

danarmak wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not both? Many routers have had remote access vulnerabilities, but there's a clear reason to write about 2012-era vulns about Huawei and not some other manufacturer.

What would be that reason?

The smear campaign part of negamax's comment.