Security fears about Huawei products being used in the new 5G networks are still being expressed by the Trump administration, while Google has clarified its position on the matter.

What’s So Bad About Huawei?

Back in July 2018,  espionage chiefs from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the U.K. and the U.S. (the so-called ‘Five-Eyes’), agreed at a meeting in July this year to try to contain the global growth of Chinese telecoms company Huawei (the world’s biggest producer of telecoms equipment) because of the threat that it could be using its phone network equipment to spy for China.  This led to the US, Australia and New Zealand barring Huawei Technologies Ltd. (with Japan more or less joining the ban) as a supplier for fifth-generation networks.

At the time, the Trump administration drew attention to the matter when Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Huawei, was detained in Vancouver at the request of U.S. authorities for violating US sanctions on Iran.

Since then, other countries have joined the ban and other allegations have been made against Huawei e.g. the US Department of Justice (DOJ) charged Huawei with bank fraud and stealing trade secrets back in January 2019.

What About The UK

As for the UK government, it will allow Huawei equipment to be used in the country’s 5G network, but not in core network functions or critical national infrastructure, and not in nuclear and military sites.  This has led to White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney visiting just last week to help dissuade the UK from using Huawei’s products in phone networks.

Latest Warning From the US

The latest warning about Huawei products from the US has been voiced by Robert Strayer, who is the US deputy assistant secretary for cyber and communications. Mr Strayer, who is on a tour of Europe this week, warned that allowing Huawei to provide key aspects of the 5G network infrastructure could allow China to undermine it and to have access to “sensitive data”.  Mr Strayer piled on the pressure by warning that if the UK adopts Huawei as a 5G technology vendor it could threaten aspects of intelligence sharing between the US and UK.

Google Clarifies

As a US company, tech giant Google has been banned by the Trump administration since May 2019 from working with Huawei which last year led to Google confirming (via blog post) that it wouldn’t be working with Huawei on new device models or providing any Google apps (Gmail, Maps, YouTube, Play Store) for preload or download on Huawei devices.

In the light of more recent allegations and warnings about Huawei, Google has chosen to clarify its position in an article on its support pages (find it here https://support.google.com/android/thread/29434011?hl=en).  The article states that “To protect user data privacy, security, and safeguard the overall experience, the Google Play Store, Google Play Protect, and Google’s core apps (including Gmail, YouTube, Maps, and others) are only available on Play Protect certified devices”.

Google says in the article that sideloaded Google apps will not work reliably on Huawei devices.  Sideloaded apps are those which haven’t been through a certification process to appear in the Store and to run on a Windows device.  The fear is that sideloading apps could mean that apps could be installed which appear to be genuine and normal, but which may have been altered or tampered with in ways that could compromise user security.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

The Trump administration in the US is keeping the pressure on as regards discouraging countries with which it has security and defence connections, and leverage as an ally or friend with to avoid installing Huawei products in networks, particularly in critical parts.  Clearly, a Republican administration (and in this case, and apparently inward-looking one championing US companies) in a country which has traditionally seen communist China as a threat is likely to be at least suspicious of Huawei products.  It is of course, unknown exactly what evidence exists to support the idea, and it should also be remembered that it is not long since President Trump launched a trade war with China, and may also be additionally conscious of spying issues from foreign powers after the allegations of Russian influence possibly influencing his own election as president.

For US, European, and other trusted tech network product companies from elsewhere, less for Huawei could mean more for them, and the rub-off bad publicity for Huawei also seems to have negatively affected Huawei’s sales of phone handsets, which has meant that US, Japanese and other phone suppliers have picked up more phone business.

In the run-up to next US presidential election, and with UK looking for trade deals outside the EU, it is likely that the US will continue to try and bring the UK and other countries round to its way of thinking about Huawei.

A journalist has reported on Twitter that WhatsApp groups may not be as secure as users think because the “Invite to Group via Link” feature allows groups to be indexed by Google, thereby making them available across the Internet.

Links Visible

Chats conducted on the end-to-end encrypted WhatsApp can be joined by people who are given an invite URL link but until now it has not been thought that invite links could be indexed by Google (and other search engines) and found in simple searches. However, it appears that group links that have been shared outside of the secure, private messaging app could be found (and joined).

Exposed

The consequences of these 45,000+ invite links being found in searches is that they can be joined and details like the names and phone numbers of the participants can be accessed.  Targeted searches can reveal links to groups based around a number of sensitive subjects.

Links

Even though WhatsApp group admins can invalidate existing links, WhatsApp generates a new link meaning that the original link isn’t totally disabled.

Only Share Links With Trusted Contacts

Users of WhatsApp are warned to share the link only with trusted contacts, and the links that were shown in Google searches appeared because the URLs were publicly listed i.e. shared outside of the app.

Changed

Although Google already offers tools for sites to block content from being listed in search results, since the discovery (and subsequently publicity) of the WhatsApp Invite links being indexed, some commentators have reported that this no longer happens in Google.  It has also been reported, however, that publicly posted WhatsApp Invite links can still be found using other popular search engines.

Recent Security Incident

One other high profile incident reported recently, which may cause some users to question the level of security of WhatsApp was the story about Amazon CEO Jeff Bezo’s phone allegedly being hacked by unknown parties thought to be acting for Saudi Arabia after a mysterious video was sent to Mr Bezo’s phone.

Also, last May there were reports of an attack on WhatsApp which was thought to be a ‘zero-day’ exploit that was used to load spyware onto the victim’s phone.  Once the victim’s WhatsApp had been hijacked and the spyware loaded onto the phone, for example, access may have been given to encrypted chats, photos, contacts and other information.  That kind of attack may also have allowed eavesdropping on calls and turning on the microphone and camera, as well as enabling attackers to alter the call logs and hide the method of infection.  At the time, it was reported that the attack may have originated from a private Israeli company, The NSO Group.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

In this case, although it’s alarming that the details of many group members may have been exposed, it is likely to be because links for those groups were posted publicly and not shared privately with trusted members as the app recommends.  That said, it’s of little comfort for those who believed that their WhatsApp group membership and personal details are always totally private.  It’s good news, therefore, that Google appears to have taken some action to prevent it from happening in future. Hopefully, other search engines will now do the same.

WhatsApp has end-to-end encryption, which should mean that it is secure, and considering that it has at least 1.5 billion users worldwide, surprisingly few stories have emerged that have brought the general security of the app into question.

ABC News in Australia has reported how a Melbourne dentist has convinced a Federal Court Judge to order tech giant Google to produce identifying information about a person who posted a damaging negative review about the dentist on Google’s platform.

What Happened?

The dentist, Dr Matthew Kabbabe, alleges that a reviewer’s comment posted on Google approximately three months ago advised others to “stay away” from his practice and that it damaged his teeth-whitening business and had a knock-on negative impact on his life.

Even though Google provides a platform to allow reviews to be posted in order to benefit businesses (if reviews are good), perhaps encourage and guide businesses to give good service, and to help Google users to decide whether to use a service, the comment was the only bad one on a page of five-star reviews. In addition to the possibly defamatory nature of the comment, Dr Kabbabe’s objection to the anonymity that Google offers comment posters, and that it could, as such be, something posted by a competitor or disgruntled ex-employee to damage his (or any other business) drove him to take the matter to the Federal Court after, it has been reported, his requests to Google to take the comment down were unsuccessful.

Landmark Ruling

Not only did Federal Court Judge Justice Bernard Murphy request that Google divulge identifying information about the comment poster, listed only a “CBsm 23″ (name, phone number, IP addresses, location metadata), but also the tech giant has been ordered to provide any other Google accounts (name and email addresses)  which are from the same IP address during the period of time in question.

Can Reply

Reviews posted on Google can be replied to by businesses as long as the replies comply with Google’s guidelines.

Dealing with some apparently unfair customer comments online is becoming more common for many businesses.  For example, hotels and restaurants have long struggled with how to respond to potentially damaging criticism left by customers on TripAdvisor. Recently, the owner of the Oriel Daniel Tearoom in Llangefni, Anglesey made the news when they responded to negative comments with brutal responses and threats of lifetime bans.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

For the most part, potential customers are likely to be able to take a balanced view of comments that they read when finding out more about a business, but the fact that a Federal judge ruled in favour of not allowing those who have posted potentially damaging comments to hide behind online anonymity means that there may well be an argument for platforms to amend rules to try to redress the balance more in the favour of businesses.  It does seem unfair that, as in the case of the dentist, where the overwhelming majority of comments have been good, an individual, who may be a competitor or person with an axe to grind is allowed to anonymously and publicly publish damaging comments, whether justified or not, for a global audience to see and with no need to prove their allegations – something that would be subject to legal scrutiny in the offline world.  It will be interesting to see Google’s response to this ground-breaking ruling.

5G (fifth generation) is essentially the next step up and the replacement for your current 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) connection.  The main benefits that this new generation of mobile broadband should bring are faster upload and download speeds and faster communication with wireless networks (latency).

Spectrum Difference

Most carriers currently use low-band spectrum or LTE, which offers great coverage area and penetration yet it is getting very crowded and peak data speeds only top out at around 100Mbps.

5G, on the other hand, offers 3 different Spectrum bands, which are:

• Low-band spectrum or LTE/sub 1GHz spectrum.
• Mid-band spectrum.  This gives faster coverage and better latency than low-band but isn’t as good at penetrating buildings. Mid-band spectrum will offer peak speeds up to 1Gbps.
• High-band spectrum /  mmWave .  This spectrum can offer peak speeds up to 10 Gbps and has very low latency, although it has a low coverage area and building penetration is poor.
• In the UK, it is likely that there will be 2 different, location-based frequencies. Sub-6GHz (gigahertz) is likely to be the first offered to users, and the (expensive) high-band spectrum / mmWave for use in densely populated areas. This could mean limitations on where an owner can use their 5G phone (when they eventually get one).

What Can We Expect From 5G?

More frequencies, faster speeds and less latency should mean big improvements in broadband (particularly commercial) and an end to slowdowns during busy times of day that have been experienced due to the overcrowding of the current limited LTE.

How Fast is Faster?

Theoretically, the maximum speed for 5G should be a hundred times faster than the current 4G technology can provide i.e. 10 gigabits per second (Gbps) rather than 100 megabits per second (Mbps).

Peak data rates with 5G could reach 20Gbps downlink and 10Gbps uplink per mobile base station (for all users in the cell), but 5G users will not actually experience this speed unless they have a dedicated connection.

Speed Record

Swedish phone company Ericsson’s research and development team have just reported setting a new maximum speed record on 5G connections, by achieving download rates of 4.3Gbps on the millimeter wave spectrum during interoperability testing using commercial products.

Finite Frequency

Also, the frequency spectrum needed for 5G is finite, and even with additional spectrum that has been auctioned to the UK’s mobile networks, more will be needed. This may mean some crowded traffic in the first wave, with things not improving until more auctions have taken place.

It is also likely that other technologies will need to be developed and trialled in order to help 5G live up to its promise. Lessons learned about 5G in other countries (e.g. China) will take time to be noted and incorporated in the UK network to help it deliver maximum benefits.

Real-Life Business Applications

Anticipated ways that 5G could improve things in our lives and for businesses include:

• Improvements to health care.  Communications and sensor networks in health care are likely to be improved, therefore benefiting patients, doctors and other staff.
• Improvements in the IoT as devices require fewer resources, and huge numbers of devices can connect to a single base station, making them much more efficient. IoT improvements could help with all kinds of services e.g. public services such as smart bins and smart lighting, remote healthcare services, and CCTV / surveillance services.
• A boost to virtual and augmented reality.
• Benefits for the growing autonomous vehicle market as 5G provides the constant, guaranteed connection that they need, enables better communication with other vehicles on the road and better provision of information to other cars about road conditions, as well as improvements in the performance of information given to  drivers and automakers.
• Advantages for companies operating delivery drone/robot services e.g. Amazon may also get a boost from reliable and powerful 5G connections.
• Advantages for local authorities and local infrastructure (monitoring and control for streetlights, drain/flood information) and for utility and other companies that use remote sensors.
• The low latency of 5G offering allowing more remote device control e.g. reducing risk in hazardous environments and allowing technicians with specialised skills to control machinery from anywhere in the world.

Challenges For 5G Phone Manufacturers

For phone manufacturers, manufacturing 5G phones is a slightly different and more complex proposition. For example:

• 5G phones are more complex e.g. they need a more complex antenna. These mean extra production costs which are likely to be passed on (with first-wave prices) to customers. It is thought that 5G compatible phones will be priced between £450-£540, with higher prices for leading brand models e.g. Samsung, Apple and Huawei.
• The miniaturisation of more complex 5G phone presents challenges. The first generation of 5G phones may, therefore, be a little larger than a normal smartphone.
• Launching new handsets before the new network has been rolled out could simply annoy buyers and damage brand reputation, and many customers may simply delay buying a 5G anyway until they are confident that 5G is performing well and will offer them all the benefits.
• The first 5G smartphones need two modems, one standalone 5G modem, and one that still works on 4G and older networks (for when 4G isn’t available).

Despite the challenges, 5G phones have been available for some time now many people have been holding off from buying them until the 5G connection services become more widely available.  It is estimated that 260 million new 5G phones will be produced worldwide in 2020.

Whereas Sony has recently announced that it is launching its first 5G smartphone this month (Xperia 1 II flagship handset), which many see as a bid to prop up its struggling smartphone business, Huawei and Samsung are currently ahead in the 5G phone market.

Some commentators have noted, however, that although 5G services have now been rolled out in the UK by many of the networks and 5G phones are available, there is still some scepticism in the UK marketplace about the benefits vs costs of getting 5G phones at this early stage, and there appears to be a general feeling among consumers that 5G is not ready for mainstream adoption yet.

When?

5G has taken nearly 10 years to develop and so far in the UK, EE launched its 5G service in May 2019, Vodafone followed in July 2019, O2 launched its 5G service in October, and BT Mobile also launched its 5G service in October 2019.

Sky Mobile entered the market with its 5G service in January 2020 and although the Three network launched for home broadband in parts of London in August last year, it has not yet expanded this to its phones.

Where?

Viavi Solutions (The State of 5G Deployments report) reveals that commercial 5G networks have now been deployed in 378 cities across 34 countries, with the most cities with 5G availability in South Korea (85) and with 5G now available in 31 UK cities.

Looking Ahead

The same increased speed and lower latency of 5G that allows downloading films and games in seconds and watching them without any buffering is also likely to provide many new and innovative opportunities and could help provide a boost to new industries.

Many different types of businesses could benefit from improved connectivity with remote workers or with salespeople in remote areas.

Also, the news from an O2 forecast is that 5G could deliver time savings that could bring £6 billion a year in productivity savings in the UK, and that 5G-enabled tools and smart items could save UK householders £450 a year in food, council and fuel bills.

We will, however, have to wait for 5G networks and services to be operating fully and offering all the predicted benefits, and as well as being somewhat expensive, purchasing a 5G phone may be something that many people will still hold-off doing until they’re confident they’ll get the promised value from it.

Microsoft’s Windows 7 Operating system and Windows Server 2008 formally and finally reached their ‘End of Life’ (end of support, security updates and fixes) earlier on Wednesday 14 January.

End of Life – What Now?

End of life isn’t quite as final as it sounds because Windows 7 will still run but support i.e. security updates and patches and technical support will no longer be available for it. If you are still running Windows 7 then you are certainly not alone as it still has a reported 27 per cent market share among Windows users (Statcounter).

For most Windows 7 users, the next action will be to replace (or upgrade) the computers that are running these old operating systems.  Next, there is the move to Windows 10 and if you’re running a licensed and activated copy of Windows 7, Windows 8 or Windows 8.1, Home or Pro, you can get it for free by :

>> going to the Windows 10 download website

>>  choosing to Create Windows 10 installation media
>> Download tool now and Run
>> Upgrade this PC now (if it’s just one PC –  for another machine choose ‘Create installation media for another PC’ and save installation files) and follow the instructions.   >> After installation, you can see your digital license for Windows 10 by going to Settings Update & Security > Activation.

Windows Server

Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2 have also now reached their end-of-life which means no additional free security updates on-premises or non-security updates and free support options, and no online technical content updates.

Microsoft is advising that customers who use Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2 products and services should migrate to its Microsoft Azure.

About Azure

For Azure customers, the Windows Virtual Desktop means that there’s the option of an extra three years of extended support (of critical and important security updates) as part of that package, but there may be some costs incurred in migrating to the cloud service.

Buying Extended Security Updates

‘Extended Security Updates’ can be also purchased by customers with active Software Assurance for subscription licenses for 75% of the on-premises annual license cost, but this should only really be considered as a temporary measure to ease the transition to Windows 10, or if you’ve simply been caught out by the deadline.

Unsupported Devices – Banking & Sensitive Data Risk

One example of the possible risks of running Windows 7 after its ‘end-of-life’ date has been highlighted by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), the public-facing part of GCHQ.  The NCSC has advised Windows 7 users to replace their unsupported devices as soon as possible, and to move any sensitive data to a supported device.  Also, the NCSC has advised Windows 7 users to not use unsupported devices for tasks such as accessing bank and other sensitive accounts, and to consider accessing email from a different device.

The NCSC has pointed out that cyber-criminals began targeting Windows XP immediately after extended support ended in 2015. It is likely, therefore, that the same thing could happen to Windows 7 users.

Businesses may wish to note that there have already been reports (in December) of attacks on Windows 7 machines in an attempt to exploit the EternalBlue vulnerability which was behind the serious WannaCry attacks.

Windows 7 History

Windows 7 was introduced in 2009 as an upgrade  in the wake of the much-disliked Windows Vista.  Looking back, it was an unexpected success in many ways, and looking forward, if you’re one of the large percentage of Windows users still running Windows 7 (only 44% are running Windows 10), you may feel that you’ve been left with little choice but to move away from the devil you know to the not-so-big-bad Windows 10.

Success For Microsoft

Evolving from early codename versions such as “Blackcomb”, “Longhorn,” and then “Vienna” (in early 2006), what was finally named as Windows 7 in October 2008 proved to be an immediate success on its release in 2009.  The update-turned Operating System, which was worked upon by an estimated 1,000 developers clocked-up more than 100 million sales worldwide within the first 6 months of its release. Windows 7 was made available in 6 different editions, with the most popularly recognised being the Home Premium, Professional, and Ultimate editions.

Improvement

Windows 7 was considered to be a big improvement upon Windows Vista which, although achieving some impressive usage figures (still lower than XP though) came in for a lot of criticism for its high system requirements, longer boot time and compatibility problems with pre-Vista hardware and software.

Some of the key improvements that Windows 7 brought were the taskbar and a more intuitive feel, much-improved performance, and fewer annoying User Account Control popups. Some of the reasons for switching to Windows 7 back in 2009 were that it had been coded to support most pieces of software that ran on XP, it could automatically install device drivers, the Aero features provided a much better interface, it offered much better hardware support, the 64-bit version of Windows 7 could handle a bigger system memory, and the whole Operating System had a better look and feel.

Embracing the Positive

It may even be the case that in the process of worrying about the many complications and potential challenges of migrating to Windows 10 you haven’t allowed yourself to focus on the positive aspects of the OS such as a faster and more dynamic environment and support for important business software like Office 365 and Windows server 2016.

What To Do Now

The deadline to the end of support/end of life for Windows 7 has now passed and the key factor to remember is that Windows 7 (and your computers running Windows 7) is now exposed to any new risks that come along. If you have been considering some possible OS alternatives to Windows 10, these could bring their own challenges and risks and you may now have very limited time to think about them. Bearing in mind the targeting of Windows XP immediately at the end of its extended support (in 2015), we may reasonably expect similar targeting of Windows 7 which makes the decision to migrate more pressing.

For most businesses, the threat of no more support now means that continuing to run Windows 7 presents a real risk to the business e.g. from every new hacking and malware attack, and as the NCSC has highlighted, there is a potentially high risk in using devices running Windows 7 for anything involving sensitive data and banking.

If you choose to upgrade to Windows 10 on your existing computers, you will need to consider factors such as the age and specification of those computers, and there are likely to be costs involved in upgrading existing computers.  You may also be considering (depending on the size/nature of your business and your IT budget) the quick solution of buying new computers with Windows 10 installed, and in addition to the cost implications, you may also be wondering how and whether you can use any business existing systems or migrate any important existing data and programs to this platform.  The challenge now, however, is that time has officially run out in terms of security updates and support so, the time to make the big decisions has arrived.