Britain risking national security by dealings with Huawei, says ex MoD man
Britain is risking national security by giving too much access to a Chinese telecoms giant, the Ministry of Defence’s former head of cyber security has warned.
Major General Jonathan Shaw, former assistant chief of defence staff, suggested Britain needs to be more careful about its relationship with Huawei, amid concerns in the US and Australia about the potential for corporate espionage.
In frank comments to Exaro, the investigative website, the former civil servant accused the government of putting the economy before national security.
Major General Jonathan Shaw, former assistant chief of defence staff, suggested Britain needs to be more careful about its relationship with Huawei, amid concerns in the US and Australia about the potential for corporate espionage.
In frank comments to Exaro, the investigative website, the former civil servant accused the government of putting the economy before national security.
David Cameron has personally met representatives from Huawei and hailed £1.3 billion of investment in Britain but a US congressional report published earlier this month raised security concerns about Huawei.
Major General Shaw had specific responsibility for cyber security at the Ministry of Defence (MoD) for more than three years until April this year.
He said: “The economy is in such a mess that the government feels that it has to compromise on security in favour of continued economic freedom.
“Certainly there are enough people in the [intelligence] agencies who are saying that, but they are also aware of the economic cost of not dealing with Huawei,” adding, “The concern over corporate espionage is a bit like global warming. It is not today’s issue. But, by God, it is there.”
Earlier this year, Australia stopped Huawei bidding for a government contract on the grounds of national security, and Canada is reported to be considering following suit.
Huawei first entered the UK in 2001, and has invested especially heavily in the country since 2005.
As Huawei was under scrutiny by US Congress, David Cameron, the UK’s prime minister, welcomed the company’s founder, Ren Zhengfei, a former People’s Army officer, to Downing Street last September. Huawei then announced plans to invest a further £1.3 billion in the UK.
Larry Wortzel, a member of the US-China economic and security review commission, a US congressional body, also expressed worries about the access given to Huawei in Britain.
He told Exaro: “Any government should have substantial concerns about the activities of Huawei.”
A former colonel and intelligence officer in the US Army, Mr Wortzel said: “It is prudent to monitor all of Huawei’s activities in the UK and to keep Huawei out of government networks until a series of questions about the company are answered.”
A spokesman for Huawei said it is an "independent, private, employee-owned company" with "world-proven" integrity.
"We are a trusted global partner of world-leading telecommunications operators – in fact 45 of the world’s top 50," he said.
"We are a business and we have not, and will not, jeopardize our global commercial success, or the integrity of our customers’ networks for any third party, government or otherwise.
"We have been operating in the UK since in 2001 and today provide equipment and services to the major telecom operators in the UK.
"Working with our customers we have created a rigorous and sophisticated assurance system for telecoms equipment and software, this system is regularly tested during the year by both government security experts and customers."
In 2010, Huawei built an ‘evaluation centre’ in Banbury, Oxfordshire. It is run in co-operation with GCHQ, the UK’s signals-intelligence agency, to assess the security of equipment supplied by Huawei.
A spokesman for the Cabinet Office said: “The evaluation centre obviously works very closely with UK government security specialists, and that allows us to satisfy ourselves that the equipment coming into the UK meets our standards.”
Huawei’s first major breakthrough in Britain came in 2005 when it signed a contract with BT, the UK telecoms giant, to help upgrade the fixed-line telephone network.
BT says that using Huawei as one of its major suppliers has had no impact its ability to ensure the security of its networks.
The intelligence and security committee, which reports to the prime minister, is examining Huawei’s relationship with BT. Consisting of MPs and peers, the committee is due to report before Christmas.
Major General Shaw said: “There is the very real fear that the extent of Huawei’s current telecoms penetration could mean that in the long term we shall have lost so much intellectual property by the time we put our house in order that there will be no economy left to recover.”
An 11-month investigation by the US House of Representative intelligence committee into Huawei resulted in a report earlier this month that raised security concerns and warned the private sector in America against working with them.
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