What is the role of the Chinese network equipment supplier Huawei in the construction of the German 5G can play network? This is a faith and a system question. The Federal government hesitates with an answer.
The digital infrastructure for the modern economic life is important. Company locations to communicate over data networks, sensitive information stored in Cloud services, machinery and entire industrial facilities to be serviced remotely.
If, in the future, everything – from order input on the establishment of the machinery, the production of the workpieces is connected to logistics and accounting – with each other, when the Artificial intelligence plays a Central role, then the security of this data is even more important than it is already.
One, the competition would drive the competitiveness of the damage and the company in Ruin. The possibilities of Sabotage as well. Short of these data, the future well-being depends.
This dangerous situation is the core of the current debate on mobile communications equipment from China, in particular, the global market leader Huawei.
Arguments against Huawei
The opponents of the participation of Huawei in the construction of the next Generation of mobile data networks (5G) to two arguments:
1. Huawei is too dependent on the Chinese government. The policy may commit the company to release information or the company’s instructions.
2. Huawei could build into the Software of its network components “behind doors”, the spies allow access to sensitive data. Also, it is possible, in the Software, a tamper switch (“Kill Switch”), with the German data grid could be placed.
Are entitled to the allegations?
Huawei denies both allegations.
The company’s founder Ren Zhengfei was an engineer in the Chinese army before he founded the company in 1987. Today, he hold a share of only less than two percent of the company, the remaining shares are held by employees and a trade Union Committee. How big is the influence of the state is really, however, remains unclear.
The Federal government and other Western countries also refer to a Chinese law, the company undertakes with the secret services of the country to cooperate. “The law makes us Worried,” said a spokesman for the Federal interior Ministry to DW, “because the company has no control over their products”.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said during her trip to Japan on Tuesday, you would have to talk with the Chinese government that “it is not the company delivers the data to the state”.
Huawei stressed that it was not required by Chinese laws back doors in his Software. The company had been asked never to do so.
To rebut the allegations technically, Huawei has also set up in Bonn, a safety lab in which it gives third parties access to the secret source code of his Software.
Access to the three major mobile operators Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone and Telefonica (O2), but also experts of the Federal office for information security (BSI).
They all have “improved the technical possibilities to examine the products of the manufacturer in detail under the aspects of IT and cyber security,” said a BSI spokesman for the DW. The Federal office also in other Parts of the world, concerned by Huawei-parts, to check them.
So far, the experts could find nothing wrong. BSI-President Arne Schönbohm, therefore, has no reason, Huawei of 5G network design in Germany.
“For such serious decisions as a spell you don’t need evidence,” said Schönbohm in December 2018, these were subject to his authority.
The revelations of Edward Snowden made the 2013 clearly the extent to which the US is using the Internet for espionage
Who can you trust?
So far nothing was found, not reassured by the Warner. You say, such functions could also be subsequently loaded via Update.
“You can build security systems, you can minimize the risk, but the risk remains,” said the former President of the Federal intelligence service (BND), Gerhard Schindler, the ARD.
Even the possibility that China, during a serious political crisis with Germany, by means of a “Kill Switch”, the entire data network is lame, he doesn’t want to exclude.
“Such a scenario, one can imagine quite,” said Schindler, who has been working since his retirement from the BND as a Lobbyist, the Berlin-based security consulting “Friedrich 30”.
Through the publications of the Whistleblower Edward Snowden and the NSA scandal, it became known that the intelligence services of the USA give with backdoors in the Software of private companies access to sensitive data – so do just that, China is accused of.
The United States emphasize that they exploit their knowledge not only politically, but, in order to give US companies a competitive advantage. This is prohibited by US laws.
The evaluation of the differences is dependent on faith – and system-related issues. China is not a Western country, no democracy and not a military ally of Germany.
Also, there are doubts as to the independence of the Chinese judiciary. The received recently, new food, China, canadian government, citizens arrest, apparently as a response to the arrest of the Huawei chief financial officer in Canada.
From the point of view of the German economy, however, China is also an important market. It is unclear whether restrictions on Huawei in Germany would result in disadvantages for German companies in China.
Masts for the current LTE Standard. All German network operators have so far, Huawei technology
What is the policy?
The USA have excluded Huawei with reference to safety concerns from the network market. Also in Canada, Australia, new Zealand, Norway and most recently Japan, Huawei may be components not or only to a very limited extent in the construction of the 5G network.
Because the United States is urging its allies to give up the network components from Huawei, also increases the pressure on the German government.
“5G must be sure that is our top priority,” the spokesman of the Federal interior Ministry to the DW. “The Federal government is therefore examining all measures to ensure this.”
In the past week there were two Meetings of the government and representatives of the authorities, the network operators took part. It media is reportedly likely that the BSI tightened its requirements for the procurement of network components, without, however, Huawei is completely ruled out.
A fixed date by which the Federal government wants to have made a decision, there is, according to the Ministry of the interior. “We take the time we need,” said the spokesman. Also the beginning of the auction, the 5G frequencies in mid-March was not a deadline.
And the network operator?
For the German network operator, time is of the essence. Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone and Telefonica have relied in the past on Huawei technology and against a ban. Telekom and Telefonica check according to Handelsblatt, the components of Huawei, at least from their core networks, so the most sensitive area of the networks is to be excluded. Vodafone uses no technology from Huawei in its core network.
A complete exclusion of Huawei from the 5G-infrastructure is regarded by many but difficult to imagine. As a result, the availability of high-speed network would be delayed by a minimum of two years, was quoted by the news Agency Bloomberg in the past week from an internal paper of the German Telekom.
It is totally unclear what would be the LTE mean for the existing networks, such as the current Standard of 4G/. A Dismantling of the existing infrastructure would be expensive and time consuming and would tie up resources, the delay of the new Standard 5G.