Non-motoring > Trump and Huawei.. Auctions
Thread Author: No FM2R Replies: 24

 Trump and Huawei.. - No FM2R
Does he really think that everybody didn't know that this was *exactly* the plan?

www.bbc.com/news/business-48392021
 Trump and Huawei.. - Manatee
Anybody who is really worried by Huawei should also be worried by Amazon and Google.
 Trump and Huawei.. - Zero
>> Anybody who is really worried by Huawei should also be worried by Amazon and Google.

Neither have comms equipment in the core backbone, nor are controlled by the Chinese Military.

The real threat from WahWei however is their crap version/change control and support.
 Trump and Huawei.. - zippy
Just like Ericson then: www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/13/o2_outage_cause/
 Trump and Huawei.. - No FM2R
>> Anybody who is really worried by Huawei should also be worried by Amazon and Google.
>>

I see that point has just been made publicy in response to a warning that the main issue with Huawei is that whatever their intention they may be told what to do by the Chinese Government.

As Trump is doing with US firms right now.
 Huawei - CGNorwich
Is this Company really the threat to our security that Trump claims? Seems Trump and Johnson have had a bit of a falling out on the issue. Would appreciate views of those who understand this sort of thing.

{added to an existing discussion}
Last edited by: VxFan on Fri 7 Feb 20 at 12:41
 Huawei - Manatee
I think it's probably very feasible that intelligence could be gathered at the behest of state actors from a Huawei supplied network. Whether avoiding Huawei will prevent that, or how much it matters, I don't have an opinion on.

I do have the impression that the Chinese government is utterly pragmatic i.e. the state's interests will always trump moral and ethical considerations towards individuals. The individuals exist for the benefit of the state (and therefore the elite), not the other way round. I hope that isn't based in any kind of racism, more on what is happening in Hong Kong and reports on the way that the ordinary citizens of Wuhan are being treated. There is always an argument that this sort of behaviour is for the greater good of course.

Maybe our lot would be just as bad if we did not have a much higher level of scrutiny (which the odious and dissembling Johnson seems to have little regard for).

On balance, I would assume that the Chinese government will want to coerce Huawei and proceed accordingly. The British approach seems to include that presumption and to retain enough oversight and control to ensure that the system is secure, which is rational.

I should say I don't have great knowledge of the technology - I'll ask my son-in-law when I see him. He works in the sector at a fairly high level.
Last edited by: Manatee on Fri 7 Feb 20 at 11:49
 Huawei - Bromptonaut
>> I hope that isn't based in any kind of racism.

Even I couldn't interpret anything you say in that post as racism :-)

It's all in the nature of the Chinese state and it's evolution since Mao and probably before.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Fri 7 Feb 20 at 12:42
 Huawei - No FM2R
Lots of countries make military equipment which is supplied to other countries. For example the US supplies fighter aircraft to other countries.

This isn't really a China / Huawei vs. the World thing, it is a fact of life as soon as a company from one country is sold to another.

It is unlikely that Huawei have built any kind of trap door into their products. In fact, the UK has torn down the code and failed to find anything deliberately untoward. Though they didn't always love it's quality or approach, they could find nothing suggesting that Huawei was plotting or planning for anything.

However, if China and the UK went to war, then I am sure that China would use every resource at its disposal, and one of those resources, like it or not, is Huawei. As has been the case for so long and so often. The military radios used by the Argentine forces in the Falklands conflict were UK designed, built and supplied, for example.

The US has Amazon, Facebook, Instagram, Google & Microsoft? Surely they are bigger risks? Especially from a data perspective. Or do we think Trump wouldn't stoop that low? Look what the FBI tried to do to Apple over encrypted phones for example.

To single out Huawei / China seems to me just Trump with another obsession he can't let go of. Ultimately Huawei supply part of the kit our cellular networks are built upon. And have done since the days when I was involved - so that's 20 years it's been going on. They have kit in our broadcast network also.

What could they conceivably do? I guess one of two things; bring it down or listen in.

Causing it to fail could be done in so many ways, probably by hackers, but there's no evidence of anything in place. And anybody's kit can have weak spots.

There is nothing in their current kit which would allow them to listen in, especially given that their kit is not end to end anyway. Probably better to say that nothing has been found rather than nothing exists, but people have looked pretty hard. And these days things can be dissected thoroughly.

All in all, IMO, there is nothing deliberate or planned going on. We should apply a high standard of security to all our kit, wherever it comes from and we could probably do more. I say 'probably' because we're already doing a lot which is not necessarily visible, but I think you can always do more.

In my opinion Huawei does not represent any particular threat at this time, certainly no more than anything else. Most of the kit in our communications network is foreign.

Banning a single company because Trump has got his panties in a knot is a nonsense. And Trump is driven by personal ego and xenophobia.

We should have (and mostly do have) processes for keeping an eye on technology that we use, wherever it comes from.

The big threat going forward is data misuse and/or media panic.
 Huawei - Zero
Huawei had been a component of UK telecoms for quite some time. Their kit has been used on the core telephone network for some time, and similarly in the 4G network. Huawei stuff is cheap, and they hold several key useful patents. The UK is pursuing a 3 vendor procurement policy, and Huawei is one of the thirds.

As Mark alludes to, their kit has been torn down at a special centre in Reading, staffed by UK network techies, Huawei support techies, and shadowy staff from that funny shaped place in Cheltenham. Which is where they found out the shortcomings in Huawei kit and support processes.

The Americans huff and puff about Huawei security publicly, but privately admit they have no smoking gun. And if the NSA can't find one, there isn't one.

The real story here is that the USA has lost the 5G race at a technology level. They are at least two years behind the curve, and are trying to halt or slow down progress everywhere else so they can get a foothold into the business. Privately the Americans are now saying its a lost cause and they they are determined not to lose the 6G race.

As for security? I have no doubt that the boys n girls from Gloucestershire tore down Huawei kit to find ways to spy on us, the home citizens, anyone else that uses their kit, as much as trying to keep our networks secure.

All the vendors have at some time or other been cruelly caught out or exposed by flaws in kit or support, and will continue to do so. All countries are good at electronic or tech espionage. We and the yanks are the best at hacking and sigint capture, The Russians are best at social engineering aspects, and the Chinese are great at industrial espionage at the physical level.

Russian criminals, despite being very crude and relatively not very hi tech, are financially the winners tho.
 Huawei - No FM2R
Yes, all of that. Especially ref. US and 5G tech race.
 Huawei - Terry
Trump is motivated only by a desire to get contracts for US companies irrespective of the technical merits or security risk.

Trump is also prone to childlike tantrum behaviour if he does not get his own way - the Boris Wah Wei episode being a prime example.

I would rather accept a risk of Chinese access to some of our security networks, than be beholden to a US president who is egotistical, bullying, emotionally insecure, lying, intellectually challenged, borderline unstable ............
 Huawei - Kevin
We're worrying about Huawei kit but launched HMS Queen Lizzy and Prince of Wales with control systems running Windows XP? Go figure.

We have Windows Patch Tuesday and today there were 25 security fixes released for Android. That's in addition to the regular updates for Qualcomm chips used in just about every Android and iOS phone. Huawei don't need to build in any security holes, the yanks have already done it for them.
 Huawei - Zero
www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/feb/06/no-10-say-fallout-between-trump-and-johnson-overblown
 Huawei - smokie
....but then they would say that wouldn't they....
 Huawei - Zero
Huawei a risk?

this happened to Samsung phones

www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-51572775

So not only does google or apple have control over your phone, your data and your whereabouts, every other phone maker can fiddle with your phone at some level without your knowledge*


*you do have control and the ability to stop that, but only at the expense of features, functions and usability.
 Huawei - Bromptonaut
So Iain Duncan-Donut thinks letting Huwawei in to 5G is like letting AEG or Siemens in on radar in 1939:

tinyurl.com/wjlq6xm (guardian in case anyone is bothered).

Time he took a breather......
 Huawei - Robin O'Reliant
I've got a Huawei Y6 mobile coming from Tesco either tomorrow or Friday. Should I spend my nights in a cold sweat worrying if I'll be kidnapped by the Chinese, or something?
 Huawei - Bobby
If you used your Clubcard you have more pressing concerns....
 Huawei - Manatee
>> I've got a Huawei Y6 mobile coming from Tesco either tomorrow or Friday. Should I
>> spend my nights in a cold sweat worrying if I'll be kidnapped by the Chinese,
>> or something?
>>

I've had my Huawei P9 for 3 years. Best phone I've ever had TBH. Battery still good, and seems more damage/knock resistant than my iPhone and a high end Sony were.

I hope they've changed their strategy of trying to emulate the iPhone - when I got mine, I found that it was necessary to have an icon for every installed app and there was no way to access apps via a list.

I got round that by using Action Launcher.

Didn't Google decline to have its apps pre-installed? I assume you can still download and install them.
 Huawei - Zero

>> Didn't Google decline to have its apps pre-installed? I assume you can still download and
>> install them.

You can side load the app store with third party utilities. I think the Y6 was developed before the US embargo and therefore is fully featured with "stuff"
 Huawei - Robin O'Reliant
according to reviews I've read it does have access to the Google play store.
 Huawei - No FM2R
>> according to reviews I've read it does have access to the Google play store.


Well, unless there are different variants it does. I've got a Y6 in my hand, I'm sorting something out for #1's boyfriend, and it has Play Store.

Nice phone actually. Seems to do everything you'd want one to do.
 Huawei - No FM2R
>>I hope they've changed their strategy of trying to emulate the iPhone - when I got mine, I
>>found that it was necessary to have an icon for every installed app and there was no way to
>>access apps via a list.
>>
>>I got round that by using Action Launcher.

Or you could simply have.....

Settings / Home Screen Settings / Home Screen Style / Drawer.

The P9 was good, I passed it on to one of my daughters and replaced it with a P10. I have since replaced the P10 with a P20 and passed that one on down. Aside from anything else the P20 does 2 or 3 days between charges.

I would have got a P30, but then someone I know in that particular business told me to look at the Xiaomi range - outstandingly good.

#1 Daughter has the Redmi Note 8 Pro which she loves and I'm thinking to get the Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Pro for myself.

 Huawei - smokie
I looked at the Huawei offerings when I last changed my phone ( less than a year ago I reckon) and I thought that technically they seemed really good but there seemed to be uncertainty over Google's ongoing support which put me off.

I've already owned a Chinese phone without the global build (ZTE Axon 7 - had two actually) which cannot use the app store and while it's a bit of a pain it is do-able, but not ideal as I still had stuff coming up in Chinese which I'm not so good at.
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