14 DAY TRIAL // A few weeks ago, Huawei representatives revealed the fact that they would no longer be focusing on the US market. The decision came after numerous reports in which the Chinese company’s equipment was deemed a threat to national security.
In a blog post published last week, Huawei’s Global Head of Cyber Security and former UK government CIO and CISO John Suffolk, explained why he believed the US kept claiming it was defenseless, despite the fact that it spent huge amounts of money on defense every year.
“In terms of facts America does spend c58% of all worldwide money on defence and it shows. Their capability is second to none – they are THE force to be reckoned with, so why do they claim to be so defenceless?” Suffolk said.
First of all, the expert believes the US is complaining about not being able to defend itself because it wants to shift the focus of citizens away from the real issues.
“Sometimes when you are being criticised for the legality of your drone programme, or you are struggling to agree a budget (again, and again) and you are not seeing the growth and improvements in economic prosperity you need, you need something to get everyone focussed on – a bogeyman helps,” Suffolk noted.
Secondly, Huawei’s security chief believes fear is a good way to boost the profits of corporations.
Another reason would be that the US is executing a strategy that’s aimed at driving businesses to undertake the necessary security changes, drive them to bring jobs home from China, and slow down Beijing’s economic growth.
Suffolk says there might be another good reason why the US doesn’t want companies such as Huawei in the picture.
“Maybe they will worry that we will see what they do with American Citizens personal data, monitoring and storing of everything that passes through telecommunications.”