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> multiple sources familiar with the investigation tell CNN that there's no question the Huawei equipment has the ability to intercept not only commercial c
by nonrandomstring 4y ago
> multiple sources familiar with the investigation tell CNN that
there's no question the Huawei equipment has the ability to
intercept not only commercial cell traffic but also the highly
restricted airwaves used by the military
I am a bit out of date on the latest designs, but presumably antenna
resonance, array phase (directionality) and radio spectrum are all
controllable with software now. Any or all of these could be modified
remotely and changed back to civilian cell parameters again in a
matter of seconds. Additionally the firmware, and hence general
capabilities, can be remotely updated.
Hence, one can no longer look at a device like a modern radio cell and
say "this is designed to work in such a way". If you impounded it,
took it to a lab, what you'd see on the bench may have no relation to
how it operated a few days ago. Given also that traffic to and from
the device may be encrypted all the way back to Beijing, the operation
of the devices cannot be attested even in principle.
This is a serious general problem in modern security - one of
unfalsifiability and plasticity of form and function. It applies as
much to Windows and Apple computers as to Huawei.
Unless we quickly reverse the trend toward vendor-trust models that
give over total control to unverifiable remote entities we're all
going to be seriously screwed soon. This is going to play out in the
Intel microcode debacle, in Apple's iron control over devices in the
face of EU interoperability edicts, and on many more fronts...
And last I checked, our clinically insane UK government still hasn't
fully buried the idea the Chinese might build us a nuclear power
station over here!
- godmode2019 4y agoThat was the same argument anti 5g people used for 5g arrays, they suggested the normal operation is safe but they can be turned up or focused on targets using software.
- LeonTheremin 4y agoMicrowave attacks with covert tech have been happening since 1G in the 80s thanks to Silicon Trojans. The 5G crowd just didn't research fully. They are still right.
- hammock 4y agoDo you have a citation? Would love to read more
- nonrandomstring 4y ago> That was the same argument anti 5g people used for 5g arrays, they suggested the normal operation is safe but they can be turned up or focused on targets using software. That's fascinating from a psyops/infowar perspective. As they say, "where there's smoke there's fire". I've never followed any of the 5G conspiracy tommyrot, but isn't it odd that in all likelihood they're quite literally correct, but for simply the wrong ends? Were I to don my master-manipulators black Pilgrim hat and apply some extra-strength twisting wax to my comedy moustache... I'd be be just delighted to insert such "almost true" ideas amongst a bunch of credulous idiots in order to suppress belief in my actual plan.
- nonrandomstring 4y agoSorry I don't mean to dismiss all 5G sceptics... just speaking "as the evil manipulator". Some more quotation marks would have been handy.
- fxtentacle 4y agoThe solution would be quite easy: Disallow devices (and software, too) from phoning home. Disallow remote firmware updates. I predict that such a law would also be very popular with the citizens because people hate it when an automated software update breaks their workflow. And remote car firmware changes could be quite dangerous, too. https://twitter.com/anjilslaire/status/1537622856724426752 https://twitter.com/anjilslaire/status/1537622856724426752 And some companies have been pretty notorious with their bait and switch, like the ad-free Samsung $10k TVs that got "updated" with popup advertisements a year later. And all that e-waste from IoT products that no longer work because the manufacturer decided to turn off their servers. https://twitter.com/doctorow/status/1516144514984923139 https://twitter.com/doctorow/status/1516144514984923139 BTW, I like reading https://twitter.com/internetofshit https://twitter.com/internetofshit just to feel lucky that I didn't buy any of it :)
- Kuinox 4y agoUntil you get your firmware remotely updated by a malware exploiting security vulnerability.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- evilos 4y agoBut how could you ever really be sure that the device couldn't take an update assuming it must be connected to a network in order to fulfill its function? Hardware is so complex these days it's not really feasible to prove negatives.
- fxtentacle 4y agoMy first idea would be a government bug bounty. If you catch any of your own device doing that, you report it to a government agency and they'll check in their database if your finding is new, and if it is, they will immediately pay you $10k and announce it publicly. And then afterwards, the government can fine the manufacturer $100k to recoup their costs. Also, most of the updates that people hate have been pretty blatant. Like when your TV starts showing ads when it was ad-free before, it is pretty obvious that something changed.
- rob_c 4y agoWell if Boris in a skirt gets in then yes we will probably have a Chinese mobile reactor outside of number 10...