Huawei: Should you put it in your data center?

America needs strong competition

Robin Harris Huawei-bashing scores easy points with the cheap seats, but our security issues are real and larger than a single company. We have a systemic failure to achieve reasonable security, aided and abetted by US security agencies and law-enforcement who want their own back doors. Does anyone believe that an NSA-engineered back door is any less dangerous than a Chinese one?

While the government could do more to police the requirements for and use of telecom infrastructure, it is up to individuals and companies to take responsibility too. And that means spending time and money - which no one wants to do - to achieve a goal whose returns are difficult to quantify while they impact quarterly results today. How much value does Wall Street place on security spending? Zip, that's what.

Which is why we need a muscular government role in ensuring security. We need a set of ground rules that all competitors have to play by. Will the government do a perfect job? Of course not. But they'll do a better job than individual companies will, just as the FAA has given us much safer airplanes and the FDA has given us safer drugs.

Telecom is now at least as important as airplanes and drugs and deserves the same attention.

No reason to take a chance

David Gewirtz This debate isn’t about xenophobia and it isn’t about Republicans (or Democrats for that matter). It’s about protecting our companies from a vendor that has been found to produce unsafe products. If we found that a vendor was selling Americans tainted food or selling toys that could harm our kids, we’d do our best to protect consumers. This is no different – the stakes are just as high because so many people depend on data centers to safeguard their data, their financial records, and even their health records. Lives can potentially be destroyed if this stuff is compromised.

Let this be a caution to other predatory companies and nations throughout the world. We welcome competing with international suppliers in the open market based on product and service quality. But if we catch you attempting to harm or spy on our citizens, our industries, or our government facilities, we will respond with all due speed and unity.