Under tremendous pressure from US-President Donal Trump and his allies accusing Chinese technology giants like Huawei and ZTE of enabling espionage and working for government, Chinese telecom firm ZTE Corporation said that it has launched its first cybersecurity lab which will offer its global customers, regulators and different stakeholders with security assessment and audit services, such as source code reviews on ZTE products including 4G and 5G, security design audit, procedural document review, black box testing and penetration testing.
The company executive said that following the establishment of the Nanjing, China complex, the company is planning to expand cybersecurity lab across the globe with Italy and Belgium already in the pipeline. ZTE is of the view that its new labs will increase transparency and enhance trust with third parties.
The Chinese firm also asserted that it will provide its customers with end-to-end security products and services by integrating security considerations and controls into every aspect of the product’s life cycle. The US and some of the European countries have accused Chinese firms of not being opened and transparent in its approach.
The senior executives informed that the company’s strategy on raising trust level among its customers and the different governments rely on meeting cybersecurity laws of different markets, enhancing transparency for its products making and supporting open cooperation for cybersecurity standardization.
“ZTE plans to gradually achieve its cybersecurity goals through three steps: first, meeting the requirements of cybersecurity laws, regulations and industry standards as well as certification schemes; second, conducting an open dialogue to enhance transparency and establishing cooperation with customers as well as regulatory agencies; and third, sustaining the open cooperation mechanism to contribute to cybersecurity standardization,” said Zhong Hong, Chief Security Officer at ZTE.
Days ago, in a sweeping executive order, US President Donald Trump declared a national emergency over threats to US technology, effectively banning China’s Huawei from the US, on national security grounds. This order will have the effect of shutting out Chinese telco giants Huawei and ZTE from involvement in the US’s next-generation 5G mobile technology and other technologies.
Earlier, the US government has banned sales by American companies to ZTE Corp for 7 years after it allegedly made false statements during an investigation into sales of its equipment to Iran. However, within three months, US lawmakers softened their stand on ZTE, allowing the company to work with American firms.
