Indian Air Force bans Chinese cellphone maker Xiaomi

pmaitra

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Xiaomi to open India data centre to allay privacy fears

After India warned its military not to use Xiaomi devices owing to privacy fears, the Chinese firm has announced plans to open an Indian data centre.

Xiaomi, which specialises in low-cost smartphones, has ambitions to sell 100,000 handsets in India every week.

But the country's air force warned its personnel against using the devices, citing security concerns about data being kept in Beijing.

Xiaomi said it never collected user data without permission.
The decision to open a facility in India is another move by Xiaomi to allay privacy fears.
Read full: BBC News - Xiaomi to open India data centre to allay privacy fears

[HR][/HR]

Will an Indian data-centre remove the threats to our data security? What are the possible checks and balances that can be instituted to ensure the data remains in India? Technical comments will contribute to better understanding of the concern.
 
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India’s air force has grounded smartphones made by Chinese high-flyer Xiaomi – Quartz

No matter what is said on the high-tables of diplomacy about cross-border trade and investment, India hasn't always been entirely comfortable with the activities of high-profile Chinese technology companies.
The latest suspect is China's number one—and the world's fifth largest—smartphone maker, Xiaomi, which is trying to make inroads into India's booming mobile phone market.
The Indian Air Force (IAF)—among the largest in the world—has asked its personnel and their families to avoid using Xiaomi Redmi 1S smartphones. It fears that the Chinese smartphone-maker may be accessing personal user data and storing them on its servers in Beijing, The Economic Times reported. The IAF's directive is based on tests run by F-Secure, a Finnish security firm, on Redmi 1S.
Xiaomi, however, says that there is nothing to worry about, though it hasn't officially heard from the IAF or the government yet.
"We take rigorous precautions to ensure that all data is secured when uploaded to Xiaomi servers and is not stored beyond the time required," Manu Jain, Xiaomi's India head, wrote in an email. "Strict encryption algorithms are implemented to protect user privacy."
"As far as we know, our cloud service is 100% compliant with all legal regulations internationally, including India. We are willing to meet with the authorities to resolve any concerns that they might be having," he added.
Xiaomi had a blockbuster opening in India this July, after unseating rival Samsung from the number one position in China. The company tied up with e-commerce giant Flipkart in India selling its smartphones through flash sales, selling more than 400,000 handsets so far. The company is hosting its eighth such flash sale on 28 October—and is reportedly also considering manufacturing its phones in India after posting strong sales.
In August, F- Secure found the Redmi 1S smartphone sent the call history, text messages, name of the telecom operator, the IMEI number and the phone number back to Xiaomi's servers, currently located in China.
Xiaomi was quick to react and came out with a software update that prevented involuntary transfer of user data to its servers. However, the Chinese handset-maker continues to store user information on Mi Cloud—its cloud service—similar to Apple's iCloud.
Within days of the F-Secure test, Hugo Barra, Xiaomi's vice president of international operations, said the company was in the process of transferring user data stored in its servers in Beijing to California and Singapore for better speeds.
"Users are already experiencing website speed boosts of at least 30% in markets such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and as much as 200% in India," Barra said in a post on his Google Plus page. Eventually, the company plans to transfer the data of its Indian users in servers hosted in India, Jain adeed.
This isn't the first time India has expressed its concerns over Chinese telecommunication companies. In February 2014, India began investigating Huawei on suspicion of hacking into the telecom networks of Bharat Sanchar Nagar Nigam (BSNL), India's state-run phone company.
The government had similar reservations about ZTE, another Chinese telecom gear provider, in 2009 and 2010, and asked BSNL not to purchase equipment from the company. Huawei and ZTE are among the cheapest telecom equipment suppliers in India.
"User privacy is one of the biggest issues worldwide," said Tarun Pathak, senior analyst at Counterpoint Research, a technology market research firm. "Storing is not an issue but where and how is the data is being used, that's the main question."
 

nimo_cn

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more officers in IA are using iPhone, India should ban it.

Sent from my HUAWEI P7-L07 using Tapatalk 2
 

bose

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more officers in IA are using iPhone, India should ban it.

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iPhone does not connect to a remote server !! and steal information ... read data...
 

tarunraju

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iPhone does not connect to a remote server !! and steal information ... read data...
It does. It polls iCloud server even if you don't use iCloud; and it rings up App Store server every 6 hours to check for app updates. How vulnerable is that you ask? The recent mega-leak of nude pictures of Hollywood celebrities was traced back to iCloud (even though Apple denied it). Android smartphones ring up Google to check for app/OS updates and Google Drive. Google has its India datacenter in Hyderabad. Xiaomi Mi4 may be an Android phone, but it comes with the modifications Chinese government mandates (i.e. it should ring up a China-based datacenter).
 

Srinivas_K

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more officers in IA are using iPhone, India should ban it.

Sent from my HUAWEI P7-L07 using Tapatalk 2
USA is not going to invade India, If USA wants to do any harm to India it will be through India's neighbors, Either China or Pakistan.

So India has to to watchful of its neighbors.

Armed forces wanted to ban the mobile which is correct decision.

For Normal public, Mobile brands rise and fall. India brands are also doing well. It is a matter of 2 or 3 years.
 

thethinker

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IAF concerns aren't unjustified considering the previous experiences with Chinese telco vendors.

Huawei, ZTE under scanner - Hindustan Times

Chinese telecom equipment manufacturers Huawei and ZTE have again come under the scanner of Indian intelligence agencies following a report by Pentagon that said China is involved in widespread cyber espionage.

In a report released on Monday, the US Department of Defense (Pentagon) has said that intrusions originating from China have been designed to steal confidential information around the nation's "diplomatic, economic, and defense industrial base sectors that support national defense programs."

"We know about the concerns of intelligence agencies and are expediting developing system for testing the telecom equipments of foreign manufacturers in networks," said an official of India's department of telecommunications (DoT).

The government is setting up a testing lab at IISc, Bangalore where all the equipments will be tested.

The cabinet secretariat had earlier written a letter to DoT expressing concerns over the induction of large scale foreign telecom equipments, especially by Chinese companies ZTE and Huawei, in private and government networks without testing. The secretariat had asked DoT to make provisions for identifying Spyware, Malware and bugging software in the equipment.

Indian intelligence agencies have been warning the government about the potential security threat posed by the Chinese companies. RAW had, last year, informed DoT that Huawei had links with the Chinese Army. "Huawei Technologies is known to have links with the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and the ministry of state security of China..," RAW wrote to DoT.

This is second such report in seven months by a US department/committee. In October, the permanent select committee on Intelligence of the US house of representatives came out with a report titled "Investigative report on the US national security issues posed by Chinese telecommunications firms Huawei and ZTE."

The report has warned that equipment made by the two Chinese firms posed risk because it could be used to eavesdrop on the nation's telecoms networks.
 

nimo_cn

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IAF concerns aren't unjustified considering the previous experiences with Chinese telco vendors.

Huawei, ZTE under scanner - Hindustan Times

Chinese telecom equipment manufacturers Huawei and ZTE have again come under the scanner of Indian intelligence agencies following a report by Pentagon that said China is involved in widespread cyber espionage.

In a report released on Monday, the US Department of Defense (Pentagon) has said that intrusions originating from China have been designed to steal confidential information around the nation's "diplomatic, economic, and defense industrial base sectors that support national defense programs."

"We know about the concerns of intelligence agencies and are expediting developing system for testing the telecom equipments of foreign manufacturers in networks," said an official of India's department of telecommunications (DoT).

The government is setting up a testing lab at IISc, Bangalore where all the equipments will be tested.

The cabinet secretariat had earlier written a letter to DoT expressing concerns over the induction of large scale foreign telecom equipments, especially by Chinese companies ZTE and Huawei, in private and government networks without testing. The secretariat had asked DoT to make provisions for identifying Spyware, Malware and bugging software in the equipment.

Indian intelligence agencies have been warning the government about the potential security threat posed by the Chinese companies. RAW had, last year, informed DoT that Huawei had links with the Chinese Army. "Huawei Technologies is known to have links with the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and the ministry of state security of China..," RAW wrote to DoT.

This is second such report in seven months by a US department/committee. In October, the permanent select committee on Intelligence of the US house of representatives came out with a report titled "Investigative report on the US national security issues posed by Chinese telecommunications firms Huawei and ZTE."

The report has warned that equipment made by the two Chinese firms posed risk because it could be used to eavesdrop on the nation's telecoms networks.
I don't think the article could justify anything. any proved wrongdoings by Huawei and ZTE in India? it's pure hallucination.

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thethinker

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I don't think the article could justify anything. any proved wrongdoings by Huawei and ZTE in India? it's pure hallucination.

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As much as I understand your 50 cent posting duty to defend your govt and spin a positive image, from a technical perspective, do keep in mind that routers/switches and other telco equipments can be neutralized through say CCP backdoor installed by such manufacturers and can compromise the backbone, especially of military networks.

Huawei besides these accusations is also accused of stealing data from companies like Cisco and Motorola.

What's Huawei? - Business Insider

So yes, these concerns are very real and very justified by IAF.
 

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