Archive for August, 2018
China’s Huawei, ZTE banned from Australia’s 5G network
Aug 23rd
From: Sydney Morning Herald
By Tim Biggs & Jennifer Duke
The federal government has banned Chinese telecommunication companies Huawei and ZTE from providing 5G technology to Australia, Fairfax Media understands, after laying out new rules in a security guidance statement to vendors and telcos building the next-generation mobile infrastructure.
A joint statement from Treasurer Scott Morrison and Communications Minister Mitch Fifield heavily implies that the involvement of Chinese companies would pose too high a security risk, although it does not single out any specific companies and does not name China.
China could reportedly use its ‘unwritten’ tech rules as an ‘invisible tool’ against US firms
Aug 20th
From: CNBC
- With Sino-American trade tensions escalating, China’s cybersecurity standards could be used as an “invisible tool” for retaliating against Washington’s tariffs, according to one expert.
- Such standards are government-issued operational guidelines that are technically voluntary, but are oftentimes treated as mandatory by foreign firms’ Chinese business partners.
- If Asia’s largest economy were to weaponize the listing of standardized practices to hit American companies, the cost would be difficult to quantify, but the move’s effects on foreign firms could outlive current tensions, according a report from a Washington-based think tank.
Cyber minister pushes ‘forward defence’ for Australia
Aug 7th
From: Computerworld (Australia)
Minister for cyber security and law enforcement Angus Taylor calls for coordination between private sector and government to block threats
Despite many of the information security threats faced by Australian governments and the private sector coming from known sources, not enough is not being done to block bad actors, according to the minister for cyber security and law enforcement, Angus Taylor.
Taylor said that he was not calling for an “Internet filter” but said he would push for increased collaboration between the government and businesses, including telcos, cloud providers, data centre operators and software providers, to block known malicious domains.