White House Outlines 5G Security Strategy, Warns of ‘High-Risk’ Vendors

The United States needs to lead the development of 5G wireless network standards, assess any vulnerabilities to hacking, and address national security dangers posed by “high-risk” 5G vendors, according to a document titled “National Strategy to Secure 5G.”

The strategy, recently released by the Trump administration, makes no mention of who “high-risk” 5G vendors might be, but the field of candidates is so narrow as to make clear the target is Huawei.

Washington has stressed that the Chinese company—founded in 1987 by a former People’s Liberation Army engineer—is an extension of the Chinese regime and that it assists Chinese intelligence. Huawei denies that assertion.

The strategy refers to President Donald Trump’s May 2019 executive order, which “establishes the authorities to prohibit certain transactions that involve information and communications technology or services designed, developed, manufactured, or supplied by persons owned by, controlled by, or subject to the jurisdiction or direction of a foreign adversary that pose an undue or unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States.”