Huawei opens cyber security transparency centre in Brussels

Written by NTN staff

06/03/19

China's Huawei has opened the doors to a new cybersecurity centre in Brussels today to offer more transparency about its products and services, in light of recent security concerns.

The office is part of a wider strategy by Huawei to avoid being shut down by Western governments following a US-fronted campaign.

Over 200 representatives from regulators, telecom carriers, enterprises, and the media attended the opening event. Representatives from the European Union, the GSMA, and the World Economic Forum spoke at the opening ceremony.

Huawei Chairman Ken Hu used the event to call for a common set of cybersecurity standards. "The fact is that both the public and private sectors lack a basic common understanding of this issue. As a result, different stakeholders have different expectations and there is no alignment of responsibilities," said Hu. “Trust needs to be based on facts, facts must be verifiable, and verification must be based on common standards. We believe that this is an effective model to build trust for the digital era.”

The Cyber Security Transparency Centre has three major functions. The Centre will showcase Huawei's end-to-end cyber security practices, from strategies and supply chain to R&D and products and solutions; the Centre will facilitate communication between Huawei and key stakeholders on cyber security strategies and end-to-end cyber security and privacy protection practices; and the Centre will provide a product security testing and verification platform and related services to Huawei customers.

Huawei says its approach to cyber security is "Security or Nothing" and argues it can improve security across the entire value chain. Will the new centre help improve Huawei's image in the eyes of European governments? While some share President Trumps' concerns, few are as aggressive as the US leader and most telcos in the region acknowledge they need Huawei equipment for the rollout of 5G, IoT, autonomous vehicles, cloud and other advanced networking gear.