Nokia Gets Knickers In A Twist After CTO Slams Huawei

Nokia a key partner with Australian telco carriers rolling out 5G has slammed one of their own for revealing a report that suggested 55% of the firmware images supporting 558 of Huawei’s enterprise networking products contained at least one potential backdoor.

The comments by Nokia Chief Technology Officer Marcus Weldon have not gone down well with the Swedish Company who have no connection with the poor selling Nokia smartphones being sold in Australia.

Nokia was hoping that they could fly under the radar that has Huawei in the spotlight after they were found guilty in a US court last week for stealing network technology.

In Australia the Finnish giant is competing with Swedish rival Ericsson for 5G business, after the Federal Government banned the beleaguered Huawei from being a supplier to the NBN and carriers due to security concerns.

Weldon’s comments focused on a report from US security firm Finite State which delivered a scathing interpretation of Huawei’s security capabilities, effectively questioning the competence of the Chinese vendor.

This is the same Company that is trying to convince consumers that their smartphones are safe including their new P30 and P20 devices.

He said of the report’s findings “Some of it seems to be just sloppiness, honestly, that they haven’t patched things, they haven’t upgraded,” said Weldon. “But some of it is real obfuscation, where they make it look like they have the secure version when they don’t.”

To date, Nokia and Ericsson have largely avoided being dragged into the Huawei saga. They have commented on the uncertainty created and the need to conclude sooner rather than later but have steered clear of any comments directed at their biggest competitor.

Weldon who has refused to toe the Nokia party line instead has chosen to put the boot into Huawei.

In a direct snub to Weldon, Nokia executives came out swinging claiming “Nokia notes the comments made by a Nokia executive to the BBC regarding the possible impact of the use of a competitor’s products on the security of telecom networks,” a statement reads.

“These comments do not reflect the official position of Nokia. Nokia is focused on the integrity of its own products and services and does not have its own assessment of any potential vulnerabilities associated with its competitors.”

Nokia has managed to avoid getting its hands dirty in this on-going saga and why would it want to.

The US is doing a perfectly job of demonising Huawei through various campaigns without help from anyone else.

Many have praised Weldon for his outright comments.