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The X-Factor
Breakfield and Burkey write a lot about security issues in their fiction and commentaries. Every once in a while, we witness what an old Texas sheriff once described as “self-inflicted gunshot wounds.” Corporations spend millions building secure technical solutions, and in turn, corporate consumers spend millions buying those technical solutions. Consumers expect these appliances to be protected against attacks from the outside. People also assume security from backdoor attacks inside their network. In other words, a given technical device is built with and runs on validated, known code. It is disappointing to learn that one of my favorite technology vendors made a faux pas that was nearly unpredictable.
Backdoor Security Risks
During recent years, you would live a sheltered life not to know about the mandate from the U.S. government banning the use of any products from the Chinese telecom manufacturer Huawei. The allegations are that Huawei technology has backdoor software embedded in their products and, as such, is a security risk. Huawei denies the claims and tried to make amends by removing their CEO, who, by all reports, is a Red Army General. The change management was questionable when his daughter was installed as the CFO.
Huawei has divested themselves of their U.S. owned businesses as a show of good faith. Huawei had a U.S.-based research and…
