BBC Focus - 03.2020

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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