Google would argue that cutting Huawei from Android threatens US security

According to a new report from Financial TimesGoogle is trying to convince the Trump administration that it must be able to provide technology to Huawei in the name of US national security. According to one FT source, the central point of the argument is that Huawei would be forced to cram Android into a "hybrid" version that would be "more at risk of being hacked, especially by China".

Google, like all US companies, has been banned from trading with Huawei. In the long run, this would mean that Google could not provide any of its services on Huawei phones. In the short term, the company has been granted a temporary license to continue providing software updates to existing phones.

Since Huawei phones are already banned in the United States, understand how Google argues that a forked version of Android sold elsewhere in the world poses a serious threat to US national security may seem like a leap. Although the Financial TimesThe sources do not explicitly explain Google's argument, it's not hard to imagine how it would go.

Step One: Huawei forks Android, creating a version that no longer includes Google services. One of the most important features of these services is Google Play Protect, a software that automatically scans for malware, viruses and security threats. Another reason is that people who buy phones with Google Services generally stick to apps available in the Google Play Store, which are subject to a more rigorous security check than you'll find in others. stores.

Second step: Huawei phones with a forked version of Android are sold worldwide. They are less secure and get hacked.

Third step: Someone in the United States unknowingly sends sensitive information to someone who uses one of those hacked Huawei phones. Regardless of the level of end-to-end encryption security, if there is malware directly on a phone, it may see the information sent to it. And many people do not check on which phones they send information.

Fourth step: the national security of the United States has been compromised.

Whether or not Google can argue this argument convincingly could make all the difference between a quick resolution of this ongoing dispute or something much more complex. Huawei is, in some ways, number one or number two of the world's best-selling phones, and if he suddenly rushed into creating his own operating system, things would get messed up very quickly.

Huawei said it could deploy a custom operating system "very quickly", even if it would be based on the version of Android (services without Google) that it currently uses in China or something else, this is not very clear – as for all but in this complicated situation.

Even if you do not take into account Google's argument about security, there is no doubt that this company and other US companies may lose a lot of money if they do not can no longer do business with a company as big as Huawei. Just as it is difficult to separate the Trump administration's security concerns from its trade war, it is equally difficult to separate Google's safety motivations from the potential effect on its results.

As Bloomberg Huawei himself said it "has not negotiated directly with the US government and is waiting to see how the Google talks will evolve." This means that the discussions announced by Google with the US government are at the center of the current action.

This action is expected to intensify over the summer: Google's temporary license to provide updates to Huawei phones is due to expire on August 19th.