H.E. Dr. Mohamed Hamad Al Kuwaiti, Head of Cyber Security, UAE, highlights the importance of cyber cooperation for a resilient and vibrant digital future

Huawei advocates for industry-wide capability building, knowledge sharing, and tighter coalitions

The largest Global Cyber Security and Privacy Protection Transparency Center in Dongguan has been launched by Huawei in China today, with representatives from GSMA, SUSE, the British Standards Institution, and regulators from the UAE and Indonesia speaking at the opening ceremony.

Huawei released its Product Cyber Security Baseline along with the opening of the new center, marking the first time the company has made its product security baseline framework and management practices available to the industry as a whole. These efforts are to engage with customers, suppliers, standards organizations, and other stakeholders to jointly strengthen cyber security across the industry.

Ken Hu, Huawei's Rotating Chairman, at the opening of the Dongguan center said "Cyber security is more important than ever. As an industry, we need to work together, share best practices, and build our collective capabilities in governance, standards, technology, and verification. We need to give both the general public and regulators a reason to trust in the security of the products and services they use on a daily basis. Together, we can strike the right balance between security and development in an increasingly digital world."

Since the past few years, industry digitalization and new technologies like 5G and AI have made cyberspace complex than ever, and also due the fact that people have been spending a greater portion of their lives online throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. These trends have led to a rise in new risk for cyber security.

Huawei launched the new Global Cyber Security and Privacy Protection Transparency Center in Dongguan to address these issues, offering a platform for industry stakeholders to share expertise in cyber governance and work on technical solutions together. The center is designed to demonstrate solutions and share experience, enhance communication and joint innovation, and support security testing and verification. It will be open to regulators, independent third-party testing organizations, and standards organizations, as well as Huawei customers, partners, and suppliers.

A keynote was delivered on the importance of cyber cooperation for a resilient and vibrant digital future during the opening by H.E. Dr. Mohamed Hamad Al Kuwaiti, Head of Cyber Security, UAE,. He also said A public-private partnership will be critical to build collaboration among private, public and government entities so as to establish a globally trusted digital trusted oasis in the UAE,.

To take forward a unified approach to cyber security in the telecoms industry, organizations like GSMA and 3GPP have also been working with industry stakeholders to promote NESAS Security Assurance Specifications and independent certifications. These baselines have seen wide acceptance in the industry, and will play an significant role in the development and verification of secure networks.

"The delivery of existing and new services in the 5G era will rely heavily on the connectivity provided by mobile networks and will fundamentally depend on the underlying technology being secure and trusted," he said. "Initiatives such as the GSMA 5G Cybersecurity Knowledge Base, designed to help stakeholders understand and mitigate network risks, and NESAS, an industry-wide security assurance framework, are designed to facilitate improvements in network equipment security levels across the sector." commented Mats Granryd, Director General of GSMA, spoke at the opening of Huawei's new center.

At the event, Huawei also released its Product Cyber Security Baseline, the culmination of over a decade of experience in product security management, incorporating a broad range of external regulations, technical standards, and regulatory requirements. The Baseline, together with Huawei's other governance mechanisms, helps in making sure that the quality, security, and trustworthiness of the company's products. Over the years, Huawei has built over 1,500 networks that connect more than three billion people across 170 countries and regions. None of these networks have ever experienced a major security incident.

Sean Yang, Director of Huawei's Global Cyber Security and Privacy Protection Office said "This is the first time we've shared our security baseline framework with the entire industry, not just core suppliers. We want to invite all stakeholders, including customers, regulators, standards organizations, technology providers, and testing organizations, to join us in discussing and working on cyber security baselines. Together, we can continuously improve product security across the industry."

Now, the industry still lacks a standards-based, coordinated approach, especially when it comes to governance, technical capabilities, certification, and collaboration.

"Cybersecurity risk is a shared responsibility," concluded Ken Hu in his opening remarks. "Governments, standards organizations, and technology providers need to work closer together to develop a unified understanding of cyber security challenges. This must be an international effort. We need to set shared goals, align responsibilities, and work together to build a trustworthy digital environment that meets the challenges of today and tomorrow."