New Zealand's big call to Huawei – politics best explains the ban on 5G

ANALYSIS The block on which Huawei provides 5G technology to Spark could concern 90% of geopolitics and 10% of the evolution of mobile network technology.

It is not yet clear whether the Government Communications Security Office (GCSB) is only concerned about the "possibility" of compromising the Huawei 5G hardware, or if it has found the evidence.

But Wednesday's revelation that it had declined a request for Spark's use of the Chinese telecommunications giant's 5G material because of a "risk" of significant network security, suggests the first.

It is not known yet whether this decision necessarily marks the end of the road for Huawei in New Zealand 5G, although that seems quite possible.

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It is risky to speculate on what led the GCSB to act, since neither the details of Spark's proposal nor the information regarding the concerns of the GCSB are public.

It is effectively impossible to guarantee that telecommunication or computer equipment is free of backdoors that can be integrated into its hardware or software to allow espionage.

Earlier this year, Google's security researchers discovered a major loophole with potentially huge security implications that had not been detected in the microcode of most microprocessors sold by Intel over the last 10 years.

And this flaw was an "accident" that had not been intentionally hidden.

One network expert believes that one of the theoretical risks that could have caused the GCSB to be concerned is that Huawei's 5G radio network controller modems could be tampered with to secretly mirror communications to a hidden Internet address.

A flawless stayHuawei in New Zealand

But Huawei, which is one of the world's largest technology companies with $ 93 billion in revenue and 180,000 employees, is already deeply rooted in many New Zealand phone companies.

Spark used Huawei equipment to upgrade its 3G and 4G networks. Huawei has provided and even partially funded the 2degrees mobile network.

In 2015, Huawei also provided technology for Vodafone's $ 22 million broadband cable upgrades in Wellington and Christchurch.

Chorus also buys a small amount of Huawei equipment for its rural networks.

Last year, Huawei and founder and CEO Ren Zhengfei met with British Prime Minister Bill English in Wellington and announced that they would spend $ 400 million in New Zealand over the next five years, including on a Cloud Computing Data Center (to be confirmed). a research laboratory hosted by Victoria University.

Ren chose to give his first media interview in New Zealand, where he discussed – through the intermediary of a translator – his decision to join the Communist Party in 1978 and claimed that the relations of Huawei with the Chinese government were no different from those that might exist between a New Zealand company and the New Zealand government.

The Australian government has banned Huawei from providing equipment to its national broadband network in 2012 and Huawei's US bars long before Trump.

The US Congressional Intelligence Committee, also in 2012, also advised US companies not to buy from Huawei if they "care about the intellectual property, the privacy of their customers or the national security of the United States ".

The New Zealand government is currently handling Huawei-related issues in part, using the expertise of the British security service to help verify its equipment, said Andrew Bowater, Deputy General Manager of Huawei New Zealand.

"New Zealanders can rest assured that every important work we do in New Zealand is the subject of an independent assessment in the UK through the Assessment Center. of cybersecurity, which we have not yet publicly acknowledged, he said.

"All we do is go through this evaluation center which is supervised by [British spy agency] GCHQ and they pass that on to the GCSB. "

Huawei realized that he had to "go beyond his goals because we have his headquarters in China," he added.

Indeed, the BBC reported on Thursday that Huawei's "ban" in New Zealand had raised questions about why the UK seemed less concerned about the company's use of technology Chinese.

But if Huawei is well established in New Zealand and the GCSB has identified that a "risk" rather than a real questionable activity of the company, what has exchange?

5G technology

Part of the answer could be in the changed nature of 5G networks.

Mobile networks are no longer just phone calls and text messages. 5G networks should help control everything from autonomous electric cars to intelligent sensors built into urban infrastructure.

This means that they can control more critical infrastructures, but it also means that 5G networks are designed to handle different types of network traffic with different characteristics in different ways through a technique commonly referred to as network cutting.

This requires the integration of an intelligence hitherto confined to the heart of mobile networks, in the access network itself. This intelligence is achieved through software installed in the cell sites that could be subject to new vulnerabilities.

Spark and Huawei were conducting a test to isolate the access equipment that Huawei could provide with the equipment providing this information, but it is doubtful whether this separation could be fully feasible.

Older generations of mobile network technology are also commonly used to control "Internet of Things" devices.

For example, many of the country's electricity meters are managed via Vodafone on an aging 2G network, so that 5G-specific sensors could be out of date.

geopolitics

Some industry insiders believe that the decision of the GCSB is almost entirely political.

The GCSB has never directly blamed cyberattacks on China.

Australian media companies Fairfax Media and Nine Entertainment reported that the Chinese Ministry of State Security was responsible for "Operation Cloud Hopper" and the spate of cyber espionage against Australian companies over the past year.

The PwC consultant reported on the Cloud Hopper operation last April, describing it as one of the largest "cyber espionage campaigns ever".

In October, the United States Department of Justice accused the Chinese Ministry of State Security of hacking an Australian domain name provider in order to gain access to computer systems in the United States. aeronautical companies in the United States and Europe.

It is hard to imagine that the reinforcement of Chinese military forces in the South China Sea or its biggest military exercises with Russia in September helped Huawei's cause or made it easier for the GCSB to resist any demand from the states. United States to isolate society.

In July, New Zealand released a new defense strategy document that identified China as a threat.

China is also setting up a social credit system that would rely on people's online and other activities to create a "digital dashboard" that will reward good behavior and publish bad behavior. .

The system has already been used to prevent 9 million Chinese with "low scores" from buying airline tickets.

Can a country using the new technology in this way, at the same time, expect to be a key technology provider for Western democracies?

Could Huawei's Chinese employees be or could they realistically deny a request for assistance from its security services? These are difficult questions.

Is this a ban?

The GCSB pointed out Wednesday that the rejection of a specific Spark proposal aimed at making 5G equipment from Huawei was the beginning of a process and not the end of a process.

This raises the question of whether the rejection was simply aimed at "bending around" Huawei and winking at the security partners of New Zealand, Five Eyes, the United States, and the United States. Australia – or something much more serious that could put New Zealand at risk. relations with Beijing under pressure.

Spark could try to "prevent or mitigate" the risk that the GCSB had identified, he noted.

If Spark did so, then the GCSB would have to decide whether to refer the matter to the responsible GCSB minister, Andrew Little, who would then make a decision on broader criteria, including the impact of any ban on Huawei. competition and innovation.

Spark appears to feel that its initial purchase request was formulated in the manner most likely to obtain approval from the GCSB. Therefore, the rejection could mark the end of the path.

His proposal implied that Huawei employees are installing radio access network equipment, said spokesman Andrew Pirie.

But from Thursday, Spark was still waiting for a full report from the GCSB. So it may be a bit early to guess if the GCSB intended to address its concerns.

2degrees has closer ties with Huawei and we could expect the waters to deepen, if Spark is moving away now.

It could take months to unfold – behind usually closed doors.