huawei (ZTE too)

Thu Jun 13 19:28:00 UTC 2013

On 6/13/13 1:35 PM, Warren Bailey wrote:
> They are a state controlled company. You think the PRC's party members dont
> call the shots? I've been to Beijing for work.. I can assure you the
> government has a very known presence through the private community. Often
> times, graduates of their state run colleges enter the "private" sector to
> help their collective needs. China is an odd place, but in my opinion often
> they are underestimated. Look at their stealth plane, that's a good
> starting point on their ability to borrow technology and implement it
> quickly. It's about numbers over there, not sense.

My objection to ZTE/Hauwei when I was at a cellular telco was just this.  I
said "there was no way I can agree with Chinese nationals having unfettered
access to our network".

Sure the CLI was crap/nonexistent and full of bugs, but I never thought the
product was phoning home.  I assumed there was a backdoor, like every other
product and this was dealt with via ACL's and bastion boxes.

I did not think highly of the product, and did not want to select it.  However
ZTE made the offer to put 6 support engineers in our main switch office 24/7
for the first year, and open an office down the street.  Our SVP creamed
himself over this level of "support" and they got the contract.

It's an awesome idea, build gear that's cheap enough you can't say no to, and
use the support personnel as spies.  It provides a perfect cover story to
cycle in loads of engineers.  Only one or two does the support, the rest can
observe/record/share the internal details of everything they see.

They are playing our love of "But Wait There's More!". Give us everything at
deep discounts or for free and receive direct access to the core of every
major telecom company on the planet.  For a few hundred million dollars the
Chinese government has intelligence on anyone or anything world wide, and
their agents are welcomed with open arms.

-- 
Bryan Fields

727-409-1194 - Voice
727-214-2508 - Fax
http://bryanfields.net