Tag Archives: cybersecurity

INTERNET: Huawei, Microsoft in Symbolic Cybersecurity Alliance

Bottom line: A new PR campaign by Huawei and Microsoft to ease Washington and Beijing cybersecurity concerns that are hurting their cross-border business will have limited impact, and what’s really needed is better technology to prevent against hacking.

Huawei, Microsoft in odd new alliance

The growing paranoia in Beijing and Washington over cybersecurity threats is creating odd bedfellows of two of the world’s leading tech companies on opposite sides of the Great Firewall of China. That pairing is bringing together software giant Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), one of the biggest China boosters among US tech firms, with Huawei, a globally ambitious Chinese company that would desperately like to enter the lucrative US market for telecoms networking equipment. Read Full Post…

TELECOMS: Cybersecurity Trade Wars Take Pause

Bottom line: Beijing’s delay of new rules for foreign tech firms selling to Chinese banks could mark a turning point in a looming trade war centered on cybersecurity, and Washington should move to take reciprocal action.

Beijing slows down on new cybersecurity rules

After months of heating tensions, we’re seeing a sudden pause in the growing friction between China and the west that looked set to erupt into a new trade war centered on the sensitive issue of cybersecurity. That’s my assessment on reading that China is delaying implementation of draconian new requirements that would have forced all foreign tech firms to hand over sensitive and highly confidential product information when selling to Chinese banks.

I’m certainly not being naive in believing that China’s delay in this instance is the result of its realization that there’s no security risk posed by products supplied by foreign tech giants like IBM (NYSE: IBM), Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) and Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL). Instead, this delay is almost certainly the result of repeated protests from the companies themselves and also from Washington and Europe, which all argue the new requirements are overly and unnecessarily intrusive. Read Full Post…

Apple Becomes Voice Of Reason In Cyber War Of Words

Apple promises to safeguard data on Chinese servers

Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) has emerged as a rare voice of reason in the war of words between China and the west over cyber security, with word that the global tech giant has decided to host some of its users’ personal data on Chinese-based computers. Apple’s move was almost surely a business decision first and foremost, providing its Chinese users with speedier services. But the move also sends a signal that other western companies should consider following, reflecting Apple’s belief that using Chinese infrastructure doesn’t pose a risk to compromising a company’s private data. Read Full Post…

IBM Gains, Losses Highlight China’s Tech Conundrum

IBM launches environmental initiative

A trio of cross-border news bits is highlighting the complexities in the China-US trade relationship, where accusations of cybersyping from both sides have raised tensions and threatened to derail business dealings in the sensitive high-tech space. All 3 news bits involve tech giant IBM (NYSE: IBM), which was one of the earliest and most active US tech firms to come to China, and thus stands to lose the most from recent tensions. Two of the headlines look relatively positive, including China’s approval of a multibillion-dollar M&A deal and IBM’s launch of a major new business initiative. The third looks more ominous, and has a top lender preparing to ditch its IBM servers in favor of homegrown products in a shift that looks highly political.

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Lenovo Dismisses US Security Concerns On IBM Buy

Lenovo’s IBM, Motorola buys come under the microscope

A month after word first emerged that Lenovo’s (HKEx: 992) mega-deal to buy IBM’s (NYSE: IBM) low-end server business was running into political headwinds, Lenovo is coming out and directly saying it expects to close the deal by the end of the year. Some of my sources near IBM are giving a similar message, even after a top Lenovo executive said last month that the ongoing cybersecurity spat between Beijing and Washington could derail the deal. Lenovo is also saying it expects to close its separate purchase of Motorola Mobility in the same time frame, marking the first time I’ve ever seen anyone imply that the purchase of that company from Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) might face any political headwinds. Read Full Post…

Sino-US Cyber Wars Threaten IBM-Lenovo Deal

IBM-Lenovo deal in danger of derailing

Chinese workers who quit their jobs at IBM (NYSE: IBM) this spring rather than take new positions at Lenovo (HKEx: 992) under an M&A deal may be regretting their decision, with word that the deal may derail due to US national security concerns. Of course I’m being just a tad facetious with my comment about the former IBM workers, but I’m quite serious about the doubts that are suddenly swirling around the deal announced early this year for IBM to sell its low-end server business to Lenovo. The latest reports are a bit more neutral, though I would now give the deal just a 50 percent chance of getting clearance from the US national security regulator. Read Full Post…