18:00 GMT +326 June 2019

UK Cyber Security Centre Warns Companies Against Using China's ZTE Equipment

CC BY 2.0 / Kārlis Dambrāns / ZTE

05:41 17.04.2018(updated 07:39 17.04.2018) Get short URL

128

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) warned Monday the UK telecommunications sector against using Chinese state-owned Zhongxing Telecommunications Equipment (ZTE) company’s equipment and services, citing security risks.

"NCSC assess that the national security risks arising from the use of ZTE equipment or services within the context of the existing UK telecommunications infrastructure cannot be mitigated," NCSC Technical Director Ian Levy said as quoted in a press release.

Moreover, Levy stated in a letter seen by the Financial Times that possible usage of ZTE equipment would result in substantial negative consequences for UK security.

Introducing ZTE's first foldable smartphone with dual screens. The AxonM.

© Photo: Facebook / ZTE Device

Seeing Double: China's ZTE Unveils New Foldable Smartphone With Two Screens (VIDEO)

"[Use of ZTE services would have a] long term negative effect on the security of the UK … The UK telecommunications network already contains a significant amount of equipment supplied by Huawei, also a Chinese equipment manufacturer. Adding in new equipment and services from another Chinese supplier would render our existing mitigations ineffective," Levy said as quoted by FT.

Earlier in the day, US Department of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said that the United States cut off exports from China’s Zhongxing Telecommunications Equipment Corporation for the next seven years in response to violations of sanctions against North Korea and Iran.

China then announced that it monitors the situation with the US ban on ZTE and is ready to take measures for the Chinese companies' protection.

"The Chinese Ministry of Commerce will closely monitor the situation and will be ready to take the necessary steps for protection of rights and interests of the Chinese companies," the statement read.

Delegates show their opposition to the Trans-Pacific Parternership Agreement (TPP) during Day 1 of the Democratic National Convention at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, July 25, 2016.

© AFP 2019 / Nicholas Kamm

US May Seek to Rejoin TPP to Survive Trade War With China - Expert

The ministry noted the company cooperated with over 100 companies in the United States and created thousands of jobs there. The ministry expressed hope that Washington would mitigate the problem in accordance with the regulations, according to the statement.

ZTE agreed last year to pay $1.19 billion in penalties for illegally shipping telecommunications equipment to Iran and North Korea.

Related:: Kaspersky Lab Discussing Software Security With UK Cyber Security Centre

: Rising Threats: UK Bombarded With 'Significant' Cyberattacks Throughout 2017

: 'Devastating': Many UK Companies, Charities Still Not Prepared for Cyberattacks

: UK Government to Invest Some $19 Million in London Cybersecurity Center

: UK Invests About Billions in Country's Cybersecurity

Tags:

cybersecurity, ZTE, China, United Kingdom

Community standardsDiscussion

Comment via FacebookComment via Sputnik

Сomment
Thank you! Your comment will be reviewed by the moderator for compliance with the Rules
Add more
Post limit reached. Please try again in a minute.
Your comment contains a link, so it can't be published on our site

Сomment

Community standards

The fact of registration and authorization of users on Sputnik websites via users’ account or accounts on social networks indicates acceptance of these rules.

Users are obliged abide by national and international laws. Users are obliged to speak respectfully to the other participants in the discussion, readers and individuals referenced in the posts.

The websites’ administration has the right to delete comments made in languages other than the language of the majority of the websites’ content.

In all language versions of the sputniknews.com websites any comments posted can be edited.

A user comment will be deleted if it:

does not correspond with the subject of the post;
promotes hatred and discrimination on racial, ethnic, sexual, religious or social basis or violates the rights of minorities;
violates the rights of minors, causing them harm in any form, including moral damage;
contains ideas of extremist nature or calls for other illegal activities;
contains insults, threats to other users, individuals or specific organizations, denigrates dignity or undermines business reputations;
contains insults or messages expressing disrespect to Sputnik;
violates privacy, distributes personal data of third parties without their consent or violates privacy of correspondence;
describes or references scenes of violence, cruelty to animals;
contains information about methods of suicide, incites to commit suicide;
pursues commercial objectives, contains improper advertising, unlawful political advertisement or links to other online resources containing such information;
promotes products or services of third parties without proper authorization;
contains offensive language or profanity and its derivatives, as well as hints of the use of lexical items falling within this definition;
contains spam, advertises spamming, mass mailing services and promotes get-rich-quick schemes;
promotes the use of narcotic / psychotropic substances, provides information on their production and use;
contains links to viruses and malicious software;
is part of an organized action involving large volumes of comments with identical or similar content ("flash mob");
“floods” the discussion thread with a large number of incoherent or irrelevant messages;
violates etiquette, exhibiting any form of aggressive, humiliating or abusive behavior ("trolling");
doesn’t follow standard rules of the English language, for example, is typed fully or mostly in capital letters or isn’t broken down into sentences.

The administration has the right to block a user’s access to the page or delete a user’s account without notice if the user is in violation of these rules or if behavior indicating said violation is detected.

Users can initiate the recovery of their account / unlock access by contacting the moderators at moderator@sputniknews.com

The letter must contain:

Subject - the restoration of account / unlock access
User ID
An explanation of the actions which were in violation of the rules above and resulted in the lock.

If the moderators deem it possible to restore the account / unlock access, it will be done.

In the case of repeated violations of the rules above resulting in a second block of a user’s account, access cannot be restored.

To contact the team of moderators, write to moderator@sputniknews.com