Seneker 1

Gabe Seneker

Mrs. Parrigon

ENG 102

19 Mar. 2020

Security Risks with Huawei Technology

In recent years, the Chinese company, Huawei, has come under criticism due to security

concerns with their technology. Specifically, these concerns come from the thought that Huawei

technology can be taken advantage of by the Chinese government. While Huawei argues that

these accusations are fake, the public can never be sure that espionage is not happening in the

current day. This begs the question, “Is Huawei technology safe?” Both Kadlecova and Lysne, et

al. provide considerable evidence on the topic of Huawei’s trustworthiness, specifically cyber

espionage.

Lysne, et al. write “Critical communication infrastructures and Huawei” which references

the history surrounding mistrust with Huawei as well as current controversies such as espionage.

The article begins with the history surrounding the controversies with Huawei. Issues with

Huawei have originated as far back as 2003, with the most recent issues emerging from the

United States’ ban of Huawei technology in 2019 (Lysne, et al. 4). Whether the issues are

lawsuits or just plain mistrust, Huawei has had its fair share of troubles in recent years. By

including this history of struggles, Lysne, et al. show how the mistrust with Huawei is a bigger

issue. The rest of the article focuses on Huawei’s ability to perform cyber espionage with their

technology. The main focus outlined in the article is where it could happen, when it could

happen, and how it could happen (Lysne, et al. 10-15). Each of these points are expressed

thoroughly in the article through a multi-view approach. Lysne, et al. investigate many different
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points, such as a carrier’s ability to take advantage of an entire system. Like Lysne, et al,

Kadlecova also writes about the topic of espionage as well as other topics.

In “Huawei: A Threat To National Security?” Lucie Kadlecova presents arguments as to

why Huawei technology is not to be trusted. The first point that Kaldecova writes about is

Huawei’s relations with the Chinese government. She writes that current Chinese law may force

Huawei to cooperate with the government, no matter their intentions (Kadlecova 3). The Chinese

government may force Huawei to cooperate. Huawei may be forced to allow malicious code,

which can be used for espionage. Later in the article, Kadlecova presents other facts as to why

Huawei cannot be trusted. Huawei is not very open about their decision making processes, which

has led to concerns. Along with not being very open, Huawei products also have many

vulnerabilities (Kadlecova 4-5). By showing how Huawei is not open and has more

vulnerabilities than their competitors, Kadlecova presents facts as to why Huawei technology

should not be used. These facts strengththen Kaldlecova’s stance on the subject. Both Lysne, et

al. and Kadlecova write about Huawei’s relations with the Chinese government.

Both Kadlecova and Lysne, et al. write about how Huawei may be working with the

Chinese government. In “Huawei: A Threat To National Security?” Kadlecova gives evidence as

to why Huawei may be working with the Chinese government. Many different scenarios are

given in her article, such as Huawei being forced to abide due to Chinese law. She explains that

if Huawei resists to cooperate, Chinese intelligence agencies can recruit factory workers, which

would be enough to commit espionage (Kadlecova 3). Due to Huawei being based in China, the

government has lots of control over their actions. Even if Huawei decides to resist, the Chinese

government can recruit Huawei workers to help with cyber espionage. Like Kadlecova, Lysne, et

al. writes about Huawei’s relations with the Chinese government. Lysne, et al. write, “. . .The
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combination of 5G being a possibly extremely critical infrastructure, and the lack of legal

safeguards preventing Chinese intelligence from forcefully leveraging this criticality, makes up

the crux of the national security argument against using Huawei” (16). Both articles show how

Huawei can be taken advantage of by the Chinese government. This applies both scenarios,

whether Huawei complies or not. Unlike Lysne, et al, Kadlecova provides other points as to why

Huawei is not to be trusted.

While Lynse, et al. focuses on specifically cyber espionage, Kadlecova provides other

points as to why Huawei has not been trusted by leaders. Throughout “Critical communication

infrastructures and Huawei,” cyber espionage is the main point covered by Lynse, et al. The

article focuses mainly on what cyber espionage is and how it is achieved with Huawei

technology (Lynse, et al. 8-25). Lynse, et al. provides facts that show how Huawei technology

poses as a security risk. As stated in the article, the security risks mainly come from the threat of

cyber espionage from the Chinese government. Unlike Lynse, et al, Kadlecova shows how

Huawei is not to be trusted through other means. She writes, “The lack of cooperation, together

with an unwillingness to share more data on the company’s structures or decision-making

procedures, are the second most commonly stated arguments by critics worried about allowing

Huawei to enter their markets. . .” (Kadlecova 4). Kadlecova covers other facts as to why

Huawei is not trusted by leaders. Some of these points include the fact that Huawei is not very

open about their decision making processes or their employee structures. This differs from

Lynse, et al’s article, which focuses specifically on cyber espionage.

Evidence on Huawei’s trustworthiness and cyber espionage is shown in both Kadlecova

and Lysne, et al’s articles. Both articles provide points as to how the Chinese government would

be working with Huawei. On top of that, both articles also cover the topic of cyber espionage if
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China and Huawei were working together. However, Kadlcova’s article differs from Lysne, et

al’s because it covers different points besides cyber espionage, such as Huawei not being open

about their decision making processes. Overall, both articles give insight on the future of

Huawei. The future of this company has two different paths, one that is banned from half of the

world and another that is benefiting from all of it. The decisions coming from world leaders now

could have a massive impact on the future of technology.

Works Cited

Kadlecova, Lucie. “Huawei: A Threat To National Security?” E-International Relations

Students,
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12 Mar. 2013, e-ir.info/2013/03/13/huawei-a-threat-to-national-security/. Accessed 11

Mar.

2020.

Lysne, et al. “Critical communication infrastructures and Huawei.” Norwegian Institute of

International Affairs, SSRN, 24 July 2019, papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?

abstract_id=3

426222. Accessed 11 Mar. 2020.