Huawei offers access to source code to allay security fears

Chinese infrastructure vendor Huawei has offered the Australian government unrestricted access to its source code and equipment in a bid to clear its name amid security concerns regarding its ties with the Chinese government. In March this year, the vendor was told not to bid for any contracts relating to the Australian National Broadband Network (NBN) project.

Earlier this month, the US House Intelligence Committee also warned the nation’s telecoms operators not to trust Chinese equipment vendors ZTE and Huawei.

In a speech to the National Press Club in Australia, John Lord, chairman for the vendor’s Australian business called on vendors, operators, and governments to outline methods to enhance cyber security. He said that no-one has all the answers to tackling cyber threats but proposed the creation of a cyber security evaluation centre for Australia as a way of easing fears.

“Huawei is proposing the national cyber security evaluation centre to test the security credentials of technologies being implemented into critical infrastructure projects,” said Lord. “As information and communications technology plays an increasingly significant function in critical infrastructure projects around the world, all nations will need to take a step in this direction at some point.

“In the age of globalisation, no country has the ability to sustain its own isolated ICT industry, indeed no country should. All countries must also develop security assurance frameworks to effectively analyse technology products which are globally sourced.”

He added that the UK has already taken this step, and others must follow. The firm announced in September 2012 that it will invest £1.3bn ($2bn) in the UK, and create 700 new British jobs by 2017.