U.S. PROHIBITS TELECOM COMPANIES TO BUY FOREIGN TECHNOLOGY

ORIGINAL CONTENT: https://www.securitynewspaper.com/2019/05/16/u-s-prohibits-telecom-companies-to-buy-foreign-technology/

The administration of President Donald Trump has banned telecommunications companies operating in the U.S. from using technology and devices developed in some foreign countries after considering that some of these products represent a serious national security risk, report specialists in cybersecurity.

This prohibition applies to purchases by U.S. companies in the future, although the cybersecurity parameters set by the government are still unknown to determine whether a foreign-made device is potentially dangerous or not.

Although the U.S. has not explicitly mentioned any Chinese company as part of this prohibition, the recent trade war that both governments have been fighting makes it supposed that the Asian giant is the main goal of this measure of Trump’s government, affecting companies like Huawei.

Some cybersecurity specialists, firms, and activists believe that the president’s executive order is a somewhat radical measure for combating supposed information security risks to America’s IT infrastructure.

On the other hand, the White has just published a statement mentioning that: “Our administration will take any necessary measures to keep the country safe from potential cyber attacks from abroad”.

The Chinese Government expressed its disagreement with this executive order through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: “The U.S. has been abusing its preponderant role to the detriment of some Chinese companies. We invite President Trump’s administration to put a stop to this campaign of discredit using national security as a pretext in favor of the consolidation of a fair commercial environment without discrimination “.

According to specialists from the International Institute of Cyber Security (IICS) last year, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) banned American government organizations from buying hardware and software from some Chinese suppliers, such as Huawei, under the accusation of violating the sanctions imposed by the United States.

In addition, some member countries of the Five Eyes Group, consisting of U.S. and four allied countries, have implemented similar measures against companies such as ZTE and Huawei; for example, Australia applied a boycott against Huawei, leaving the company out of any 5G-related implementation, soon to be launched by the Australian government.