The UK government has defended a deal with Chinese telecommunications provider Huawei, which MPs have labelled as a possible risk to national security.
The 2005 deal saw Huawei granted permission to provide BT with equipment for its infrastructure but without the proper examination of security risks such as spying, computer hacking or other forms of cyber espionage from China. Huawei is often alleged to have close links to the Chinese government, which itself is alleged to be the regular perpetrator of cyber attacks.
"Such a sensitive decision, with potentially damaging ramifications, should have been put in the hands of ministers," said the Intelligence and Security Committee, adding: "The failure to consult ministers seems to indicate a complacency which was extraordinary given the seriousness of the issue."
Chancellor George Osborne has expressed his support for Huawei and other Chinese firms, arguing their support is important for economic growth in the UK.
"It is a personal priority of mine to increase trade links between the UK and China and I cannot emphasise enough that the UK is open to Chinese investment," he said in a statement today.
"That is why I am pleased that next week Huawei is opening a flagship office in Reading as part of its plan to invest £1.3bn into its UK business over the next five years, generating a further 700 jobs."
However, Adrian Culley, global security consultant for Damballa and a former Scotland Yard detective, believes the Intelligence and Security Committee's concern about the lack of checks on infrastructure involving Huawei is justified.
"Any project that relates to UK Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) should be scrutinised carefully, especially in a climate where we are seeing advanced threats emerging every day," he said.
"It is, however, questionable that the 'cell that is investigating Huawei's kit, which is run by Huawei employees, will add any value at all and give us a better insight into what's going on there," he added, referring to the system for investigating Huawei's technolology, which was set up and funded by the company itself.
"Given China and the USA's mutual global reach and role in technology matters, we may have been in danger of sleepwalking into Cyber Cold War," Culley said.
Huawei recently hit back against continued suspicion about its role in cyber espionage, arguing that it is governments - and all of them at that - that use the internet to spy and steal information.
