REALITY CHECK
etweentheInternetofThingsandsmart
cities,by 2030 weexpecthalfa trillion
objectsto beconnectedto theinternet,from
streetlampstoautonomouscars,factories
andclothes.Theoverwhelmingmajority
willrelyon5Ganditssuccessor,makingwireless
technologyessentialtoourdailylife,oursecurity
andeconomy.Britishinternetprovidersarealready
upgradingtheirnetworksalongsideexisting4G
hardware.Ontheconsumerside,thefirst5G-capable
smartphoneshitthemarketlastyear,andtheUK
hasallowedHuaweitohelpbuild‘non-core’parts
ofthe5Gnetwork.Thishasbeenmetwithconcern,
becauseChinaseemstobebuildinga surveillance
statethatistracking, ranking and controlling its
entirepopulation.
ThefearisthattheChinesegovernmentcould
leverage the data flowing through the parts of
5GANDTHEHUAWEICONTROVERSY:
WHY IS IT ABOUT MORE THAN JUST SECURITY?
InJanuary,theUKgovernmentannouncedthatChinesecompanyHuaweiwouldbeallowedtoprovide
equipmenttohelpbuildtheUK’s5Gnetwork.Inresponse,theUSthreatenedtodowngradetheUK’s
accesstoitsintelligenceandwarnedof additional difficulties for trade negotiations. Cyber security expert
Arthur Laudrain unpicks the issues
COMMENT
COMMENT
thenetworktheybuildtoexpandtheir
propagandaandcensorship regime beyond
China’s shores.
A MATTEROFVALUES
PervasiveconnectivityoftheInternetof
Thingsraisessecurityandhumanrights
concerns,astheconfidentiality of citizens’
datamaybeatrisk.
Backin2007,localauthoritiesinEstonia
removeda Soviet-erastatue;inresponse,
RussianserversparalysedtheEstonian
bankingsystem.Similarly,if therewas
a diplomaticormilitarycrisisbetween
ChineseandEuropeanpowers– whether
aboutTaiwan,HongKongortheUighurs–
Huaweimaynotbeableto resistpressures
bytheChinesegovernmenttodisrupt
publictransportation,industry,orenergy
grids in Paris, Berlin or London.
A MATTEROFTRUST
ToalleviatetheUKgovernment’sconcerns,
Huawei opened its source code to
selectedexpertsin2010.Sofar,audits
haverevealedpoorsoftwareengineering
practiceratherthanmaliciousintent.
However, manufacturerscan always
remotelyupdatethesoftwarerunning
ontheseplatforms.Usually,thisisdone
toimproveperformance,introducenew
featuresorfixvulnerabilities.Yetthey
couldbeusedtocovertlyintroduceback-
dooraccesstothesoftwareaswell.This
isparticularlycriticalfor5Gplatforms,
duetotheirdependence on software
con f ig u r abi l it y.
Atbest,it ispossibletobalancethese
risks by diversifying providers and
B
“Huawei maynot be able
to resist pressures by the
Chinesegovernment todisrupt
public transportation,
industry, or energy gridsin
Paris, Berlin or London”
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