MI6 Head cautions against Huawei

The head of the UK’s secret service, Alex Younger, signalled security concerns over the Chinese telecoms group Huawei.

New Zealand had earlier cancelled Huawei’s contract to supply next-generation telecom equipment over similar concerns.

Background

Huawei Technologies is a Chinese multinational networking and telecommunications equipment & services company headquartered in Shenzhen, China. It also ranks second in global smartphone sales, behind Samsung and ahead of Apple. They supply equipment for 5G - the fifth-generation of mobile internet connectivity which promises much faster data download and upload speeds, wider coverage, and more stable connections.

In 2012, the House Intelligence Committee in the US released a report that urged US telecom companies not to do business with Huawei. The report also warned companies against the Shenzhen-based firm, ZTE. The report stated that these companies could threaten US security.

Earlier, New Zealand’s intelligence agency has blocked a top telecommunication firm in the country from using Huawei equipment for its 5G mobile network over fears of national security.

Analysis

Alex Younger, the head of the UK’s MI6, has said that there are security concerns over the Chinese telecom group Huawei. In his speech, he underlined the threat faced by Britain and its allies from Beijing’s growing dominance of emerging technologies.

Speaking to an audience of students at the University of St Andrews, where he studied three decades ago, Mr Younger said the UK had to make “some decisions” on Huawei after close intelligence partners such as the US, New Zealand and Australia banned them from future 5G mobile networks.

“We need to decide the extent to which we are going to be comfortable with Chinese ownership of these technologies and these platforms in an environment where some of our allies have taken a very definite position,” said Mr Younger.

The UK and Germany are growing increasingly wary of Huawei after increasing pressure from the US. Currently Huawei equipment used in the UK, some of which is embedded in the heart of the country’s telecoms network, is tested by a special laboratory overseen by intelligence chiefs from the National Cyber Security Centre, part of digital spying agency GCHQ.

However, Mr. Younger said the onset of 5G would make it harder to monitor Huawei kit, a threat made even more challenging by China’s “legal and ethical framework” and the rapid shift in global power, politics and money to Asia.

Mr. Younger said the growing threat from cyber-attacks launched by hostile states like China, Russia and North Korea was changing the way MI6, an organization built on old fashioned human spy craft, was operating. “We are shifting our focus to the nexus between humans and technology,” he said.

In only his second speech since becoming the chief of MI6 in 2014, Mr. Younger tackled a wide range of international security issues including Russia’s increasingly malign activities and the murder of Saudi Arabian journalist and dissident Jamal Khashoggi.

He said Russia was in a “perpetual state of confrontation” with the UK and warned the Kremlin not to underestimate Britain’s determination to fight attempts to subvert its way of life.

Apart from the UK, the US has also raised concerns with Huawei, Australia has banned the company from supplying equipment, and the firm has been scrutinized in Germany, Japan and Korea.

Recently, a UK security committee warned that it had "only limited assurance" that Huawei's telecoms kit posed no threat to national security. The UK's cyber-defense watchdog - the National Cyber Security Centre - has also warned that the use of ZTE's equipment and services could pose a national security risk.

Assessment

Our assessment is that the company’s identity is tainted due to fears of espionage. We feel that the adoption of 5G technology would face impediments due to the perceived danger of using Huawei technologies. We feel that these bans would only raise concerns in other emerging markets like India and compel them to take similar action against Huawei Technologies.