Growing use of cheap foreign IT equipment increasing UK cyber risk

MWR InfoSecurity said in a statement that the right checks and balances are not in place to properly vet foreign suppliers of IT equipment, which is adding to the cyber threat. The firm urges greater sharing of risk information between the UK government and its companies to address this growing weakness. The increased use of cheap equipment made by Chinese electronics giant Huawei and similar low cost manufacturers, who are undercutting British and other competitors, is increasing the risk of a cyber attacks in the UK, according to MWR Security.hideAlex Fidgen, a director at the firm, said: "Over enthusiasm by procurement teams and their lack of transparency with Government departments will put Britain at increased risk of serious cyber attack. The more equipment that is installed from companies like Huawei, the greater the chance of attack." Last week the UK's Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) criticised its government's failure to investigate the use of equipment from Huawei in the UK national telecommunications network, claiming security issues 'risked being overlooked'. In a report that raises new questions about Huawei's links to the Chinese government and the People's Liberation Army, ISC said it was 'shocked' that Whitehall officials failed to inform ministers about BT's use of the company's equipment in an upgrade to its telecommunications network eight years ago. Although the report provides no evidence that Huawei equipment is being used for cyber espionage in the UK, or that the company has given unauthorised access to any third party, there are concerns that a potential weak spot now exists. The committee said there would always be risks involved in any telecoms system sourced from abroad - and the UK authorities were not doing enough to manage this risk. There seems to be a 'serious disconnect' between those trying to encourage investment and those looking to safeguard Britain and its businesses, said MWR Security. The fact that ISC was not aware of the foothold held by Huawei and the deal with BT 'is worrying', it adds. It pointed out that companies currently have no obligation to inform government about the IT equipment they buy and therefore it is no surprise the ISC were left in the dark. "This needs to change," urged the security firm. "In terms of Huawei's business involvement with huge parts of our mobile telephone infrastructure, what people are perhaps not grasping is the fact that once a company like Huawei, which has well documented links with the Peoples Liberation Army, has a critical mass in equipment installed it could then manipulate the systems to eavesdrop," said Mr Fidgen. Adding: "Any British business installing foreign IT equipment needs to have it checked for vulnerabilities and then re-checked on a regular basis. Once a critical mass is introduced software patches can be introduced which can manipulate equipment to carry out covert instructions, information to be siphoned off, or an attacker can leverage control." UK companies are increasingly deciding to purchase cheap foreign IT equipment because of the current squeeze on expenditure. Procurement departments are tending to award extra weighting to lower prices rather than security issues. Mr Fidgen explained this is not necessarily a problem, so long as the purchasing organisation has a good, fit for purpose security programme that can examine any products purchased, detect security issues and calculate the appropriate business risk. "However, many organisations overlook that security vulnerabilities can be introduced with subsequent patches, and a product that had been considered secure, could be rendered insecure via the application of a poorly coded patch," he added. "The pressure to use new technologies and in this instance can mean that security procedures are not followed. Procedures can also be too inflexible, expensive or long-winded," he concluded.

Growing use of cheap foreign IT equipment increasing UK cyber risk

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