Huawei is being held to an impossible standard

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A Bloomberg report of persistent vulnerabilities found in Huawei telecommunications equipment by major telecom operator Vodafone highlights the Chinese vendor's current problem: While its competitors are given the benefit of the doubt when their products are found vulnerable, Huawei is held to impossible standards for political reasons.

This is a problem that probably can't be solved on a technical level. Huawei will have to drop any legacy resistance to stringent tests by clients and regulators and make more of an effort to clean up its software, but at the same time, European countries in particular should expect subtle pressure from China to treat Huawei like any other vendor.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on May 02, 2019, with the headline Huawei is being held to an impossible standard. Subscribe