Report: White House finds no evidence of Huawei spying for China

Huawei may be off the hook with The White House, just not officially

A White House review has found no evidence that Chinese telecom company Huawei has been spying for its home country, according to a report from Reuters citing two unnamed sources.

This 18-month assessment by the executive branch stands in contrast to a year-long probe into China's Huawei and ZTE by the U.S. House Intelligence Committee.

The White House didn't find a smoking gun and only deemed Huawei a risk for other reasons, like the fact that its technology could be vulnerable to hackers. The Intelligence Committee had harsher words.

The House panel "has serious concerns" about both telecom companies, as "China is known to be the major perpetrator of cyber espionage." Its report concluded that "American businesses should use other vendors."

On top of that condemnation, the committee, headed by Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Mich), said it received "dozens and dozens" of fresh complaints about Huawei and ZTE after issuing the House report.

Officially, the White House minces words on Huawei

Huawei isn't completely off the hook with the White House either, though. National Security Council Spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden officially denied that the executive branch issued a review that came to a conclusion that exonerated Huawei.

"The White House has not conducted any classified inquiry that resulted in clearing any telecom equipment supplier," Hayden told Reuters without specifying further.

It's unclear if she meant that the review exists but was conducted outside of the White House, or if the alleged White House review just didn't come to that black-and-white "clearing" conclusion.

In an election year, it's become evident that even a few words matter in statements issued by the White House.

Huawei still a concern for all branches of government

In addition to saying that Huawei wasn't cleared by the White House, Hayden reiterated that the company had been banned from supplying U.S. emergency network infrastructure for first responders "due to U.S. government national security concerns."

Australia has also barred Huawei from becoming a government contractor, and Canada is looking to adopt a similar policy.

Huawei praises report, plays victim

Although official White House channels have denied the report, both the Chinese government and its media were immediately touting it as a proclamation of innocence.

The country's Foreign Ministry called for a "level and stable" playing field following the "White House-ordered review."

Meanwhile, China Daily quoted experts who criticized U.S. resistance to Huawei, reporting that "the U.S. will lose through such thinking."

Huawei cried foul when the U.S. House report first came out, calling it "unfair and inaccurate." It found backup in an unnamed senior Hill staffer's allegation that Cisco and other U.S. tech companies urged Congress to investigate Huawei and ZTE.

Huawei, still determined to enter the U.S. market, is readying a fail-safe mobile operating system just in case it can't do business with American OS makers in the future.

Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/report-white-house-finds-no-evidence-of-huawei-spying-for-china-1105440

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US House supports 5 more years of foreign surveillance

Monitoring, if passed by the Senate, to continue until 2017

While everyone is concentrating on whether or not President Barack Obama will get four more years in the White House, the FISA Amendments Act Reauthorization Act of 2012 cleared the U.S. House of Representatives this week, giving the controversial act an additional five years.

This extension of the FISA Amendments Act of 2008, which was due to expire on Dec. 31, 2012, passed on a 301 to 118 vote. Since 70 percent of representatives (227 Republicans and 74 Democrats) voted in favor of the bill, it exceeded the simple majority required to pass.

"The Act allows intelligence professionals to more quickly and effectively monitor terrorist communications, while protecting the civil liberties of Americans," states to the bill's summary. The text attempts to make the case by illustrating foreign surveillance before the FISA Amendment.

"Admiral McConnell stated that the Intelligence Community was not collecting approximately two-thirds of the foreign intelligence information that it collected prior to legal interpretations that required the government to obtain individualized FISA court orders for overseas surveillance."

The bill cites changes in technology as justification: "This is contrary to what Congress intended when it enacted the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) in 1978 and had come about due to changes in telecommunication technology."

Dubbed 'warrantless wiretap bill' by opponents

Critics have long decried the FISA Amendment as an overreach by the federal government and a violation of citizens' Fourth Amendment rights under the U.S. Constitution.

The provisions of the FISA Amendment and its 2012 extension are a work around of The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978. That bill prevented the government from using its vast resources to spy on Americans in the wake of Richard Nixon's involvement in Watergate.

This has led opponents to routinely refer to the FISA Amendment as a "warrantless wiretap bill" and a spy program in which citizens can be unfairly targeted. On the latter criticism, dissenting Congressmen decry the lack of data available on how many citizens have been affected.

Backers, on the other hand, simply use its official name and point to the fact that the bill "requires court orders to target Americans for foreign intelligence surveillance, no matter where they are, and requires court review of the procedures used to protect information about Americans."

On to the Senate

Following its passage on the House floor, the FISA Amendment of 2012 is due for a vote by the Democrat-controlled Senate.

The Senate, however, rubber stamped the FISA Amendment of 2008 with 22 Democrats and 46 Republicans voting in the affirmative. The only dissenters were the 27 Democrats.

On top of its bipartisan support, President Obama is in favor of the Bush-era Amendment and voted for the bill as a Senator in 2008. Prior to that vote, however, he opposed the Act because it retroactively granted immunity for telecommunications companies.

Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/other-phones/us-house-supports-5-more-years-of-foreign-surveillance-1097582

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FISA Amendment renewed by US House for 5 more years of foreign surveillance

Monitoring, if passed by the Senate, to continue until 2017

While everyone is concentrating on whether or not President Barack Obama will get four more years in the White House, the FISA Amendments Act Reauthorization Act of 2012 cleared the U.S. House of Representatives this week, giving the controversial act an additional five years.

This extension of the FISA Amendments Act of 2008, which was due to expire on December 31, 2012, passed on a 301 to 118 vote. Since 70% of representatives (227 Republicans and 74 Democrats) voted in favor of the bill, it exceeded the simple majority required to pass.

"The Act allows intelligence professionals to more quickly and effectively monitor terrorist communications, while protecting the civil liberties of Americans," states to the bill's summary. The text attempts to make the case by illustrating foreign surveillance before the FISA Amendment.

"Admiral McConnell stated that the Intelligence Community was not collecting approximately two-thirds of the foreign intelligence information that it collected prior to legal interpretations that required the government to obtain individualized FISA court orders for overseas surveillance."

The bill cites changes in technology as justification: "This is contrary to what Congress intended when it enacted the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) in 1978 and had come about due to changes in telecommunication technology."

Dubbed "warrantless wiretap bill" by opponents

Critics have long decried the FISA Amendment as an overreach by the federal government and a violation of citizens' Fourth Amendment rights under the U.S. Constitution.

The provisions of the FISA Amendment and its 2012 extension are a work around of The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978. That bill prevented the government from using its vast resources to spy on Americans in the wake of Richard Nixon's involvement in Watergate.

This has led opponents to routinely refer to the FISA Amendment as a "warrantless wiretap bill" and a spy program in which citizens can be unfairly targeted. On the latter criticism, dissenting Congressmen decry the lack of data available on how many citizens have been affected.

Backers, on the other hand, simply use its official name and point to the fact that the bill "requires court orders to target Americans for foreign intelligence surveillance, no matter where they are, and requires court review of the procedures used to protect information about Americans."

On to the Senate

Following its passage on the House floor, the FISA Amendment of 2012 is due for a vote by the Democrat-controlled Senate.

The Senate, however, rubber stamped the FISA Amendment of 2008 with 22 Democrats and 46 Republicans voting in the affirmative. The only dissenters were the 27 Democrats.

On top of its bipartisan support, President Obama is in favor of the Bush-era Amendment and voted for the bill as a Senator in 2008. Prior to that vote, however, he opposed the Act because it retroactively granted immunity for telecommunications companies.

Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/other-phones/fisa-amendment-renewed-by-us-house-for-5-more-years-of-foreign-surveillance-1097582

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