Mahathir’s Malaysia supports Huawei, but should be more worried about network control than spying: expert

The prime minister last month defended Huawei and suggested Western nations were hypocritical in their cyber espionage concerns

But that stance overlooks a bigger risk – whoever builds a network has the power to take it over or shut it down

Reading Time:3 minutes

The Trump administration has alleged that Huawei’s upcoming 5G networks could be used by Chinese intelligence for spying. Photo: Reuters

Published: 9:30pm, 26 Jun 2019Updated: 10:54am, 27 Jun 2019

Malaysia’s support of Huawei overlooks security concerns even larger than the international worries over spying risks related to the embattled Chinese telecommunications giant’s roll-out of its 5G network, observers say.

“It’s not about data, it’s about control,” said European Centre for International Political Economy director Hosuk Lee-Makiyama, providing the example of a business.

“If you run a factory and are bidding against a competitor who knows your prices, they can underbid you. That is data. But if they know the settings for your machines, what you produce, how you do it – then they can shut it down,” he said on the sidelines of the 33rd Asia-Pacific Roundtable, a regional conference hosted by Malaysia’s Institute of Strategic and International Studies.

Similarly, while most security concerns are centred on a device or service, users do not place as much emphasis on the network.

“When we talk about 5G, let’s be blunt, we are talking about Huawei,” Lee-Makiyama said. “You need a different level of trust when it comes to the network. It’s not operators who can access the data, [it’s] the vendors of network equipment that run this network for the operators.”

With the advent of 5G, billions of new devices will become internet-connected, including the likes of showers or appliances that are not sophisticated enough to have cyber defences. The internet of things – the extension of internet connectivity to physical objects – will allow for everyday devices to be remotely monitored and controlled.

When we talk about 5G, let’s be blunt, we are talking about Huawei

Hosuk Lee-Makiyama