Gen. Michael Hayden hopes we all have ADHD.
A former NSA and CIA chief all-but accuses Chinese networking company Huawei (SHE:002502) of spying for its government. This comes the day after a UK government committee voiced strong concerns over the Chinese company's access to critical infrastructure.
In IT Blogwatch, bloggers pay attention to the man behind the curtain.
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Phil Muncaster wishes to register a complaint:
Michael Hayden, a former head of the CIA and the NSA, has openly accused Chinese networking giant Huawei of spying for China. ... Hayden, who headed up the NSA from ’99 to ’05 and was in charge at Langley from 2006 to ’09...is the first high profile official...to publically accuse the Shenzhen firm of spying....
Hayden’s remarks will likely inflame an already tense relationship between the US and China. MORE
General Michael Hayden talks to Christopher Joye:
Two or three years ago Huawei was trying to establish a pretty significant footprint here in the United States. ... But God did not make enough briefing slides on Huawei to convince me that having them involved in our critical communications infrastructure was going to be okay. ...based on a four-decade career as an intelligence officer....my professional judgement [is] Huawei would have shared with the Chinese state intimate and extensive knowledge of the foreign telecommunications systems it is involved with. ...the burden of proof is not on us. It is on Huawei. ... I don’t think Huawei has ever really tried hard to meet this burden of proof test.
...I stand back in awe at the breadth, depth, sophistication and persistence of the Chinese espionage campaign against the West. ... They have a much broader definition of legitimate espionage to include intellectual property, commercial trade secrets, and the negotiating positions of [companies]. MORE
Can anyone add to this news from a U.S. ally? Michael Kan can:
The UK government is launching a review of a vetting process for products from Huawei. ... Under scrutiny will be Huawei's Cyber Security Evaluation Centre...which the company set up in 2010 as a way to test company products for possible security vulnerabilities. [The review] will look at its effectiveness to protect the nation's telecommunication infrastructure.....
[It] comes after the U.K. Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee [said it] was "shocked" that Huawei was able to supply sensitive telecommunication infrastructure...without consultation with government ministers. ... The committee recommended that Huawei's evaluation center be made up of employees from British intelligence agency, the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ).Huawei said in a statement it supports the decision. ... "Huawei shares the same goal as the UK government...in raising the standards of cyber security." MORE
However, Cyrus Lee sends these less-bland reactions from China:
William Plummer, [Huawei's PR head] demanded the two governments "shut up" if they were unable to produce any concrete evidence. ... He called the allegations discriminatory and defamatory....
The company's [head of international PR] Scott Sykes, added..."These tired, unsubstantiated, defamatory remarks are sad distractions from real-world concerns." MORE
David Meyer acknowleges that we're in "a low-level cyberwar":
Bear in mind that Huawei’s kit has found its way into many major operators’ networks over the last decade. ... The UK is full of Huawei equipment. ...the United States and Australia have avoided the risk entirely by simply barring Huawei from their critical national infrastructure....
Is China using Huawei and ZTE equipment as a way to infiltrate or seize control of western networks? I don’t know [but let's] recogniz[e] the potential. It’s not like we don’t do similar things. MORE
Meanwhile, Russell Brandom has been patiently waiting for this moment, but his time is now:
Huawei or the highway, i guess. MORE
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