Telecom Sector Needs Agreed Cybersecurity Standards – Huawei

Huawei Technologies has officially opened a cyber security centre in Brussels to allow governments and companies to test and examine its products and source code.

The Chinese firm used the event to also urge governments, the telecoms industry and regulators to work together to create a common set of cybersecurity standards.

Meanwhile, Huawei continues its fight against attempts by the United States to get its allies to ban its equipment for 5G networks. Earlier this week its CFO sued the Canadian government over her December arrest, and the firm is now also reportedly considering suing the US government over its ban of Huawei 5G equipment.

Brussels centre

The developments come as Huawei announced the opening of its “Cyber Security Transparency Centre” in Brussels.

The firm used the event to highlight the need for trust in cyber security in the digital era. And the firm then called for the need for a common set of standards.

“Trust needs to be based on facts, facts must be verifiable, and verification must be based on common standards,” said Ken Hu, Huawei’s deputy chairman. “We believe that this is an effective model to build trust for the digital era.”

The Brussels Cyber Security Transparency Centre mirrors similar facilities in the UK, Germany, Dubai, Canada and China.

The UK centre, located in Banbury, actually opened in way back 2010, but it was only given official clearance by the British government in late 2013.

Essentially these facilities designed to allow officials from governments, as well as different companies, to test Huawei’s source code, software and product solutions for any backdoors or other vulnerabilities.

Cyber standards

“The fact is that both the public and private sectors lack a basic common understanding of this issue. As a result, different stakeholders have different expectations and there is no alignment of responsibilities,” Hu told a news conference.

“As a whole, the industry lacks a unified set of technical standards for security, as well as systems for verification,” Hu was quoted by Reuters as telling a press conference. “This is complicated by globalisation of the value chain.”

Hu reportedly said a common standard, verified legally and technically, would help create trust in the industry.

Do you know all about security? Try our quiz!