Huawei pledges to address national security concerns

Huawei Technologies has informed the House of Commons that it will invest $2 billion over the next five years to improve its software engineering capabilities to address issues highlighted in an oversight report and that it could take "at least three to five years to see tangible results".

The 2018 annual report of the Huawei Cyber Security Evaluation Centre (HCSEC) said that: "Technical issues have been identified in Huawei’s engineering processes, leading to new risks in the UK telecommunications networks..."

It also said that "Due to areas of concern exposed through the proper functioning of the mitigation strategy and associated oversight mechanisms, the Oversight Board can provide only limited assurance that all risks to UK national security from Huawei’s involvement in the UK’s critical networks have been sufficiently mitigated. We are advising the National Security Adviser on this basis."

Norman Lamb MP, chair of the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee, asked Huawei Technologies a number of questions, including what assurances it could demonstrate that its products and services pose no threat to UK national security, and how it responds to the actions that have been made by some countries to restrict foreign involvement in communications networks.