You think you’ve got problems with computer security.

The Sunday Times has just reported that intelligent chiefs have warned that China will soon have the ability to cripple the U.K.’s telecoms and utilities.

Now, some might argue that telecoms are already knackered in this country, but its been revealed that a Chinese company was awarded a contract in 2005 to install equipment for BT’s new £10 billion network which will, at long last, update the U.K.’s dilapidated internet grid.

And James Bond and Co are worried that in the future, some sinister Chinese general will flip a switch and the U.K telecoms network will crash. And worse than not being able to order your favourite pizza, is that the security services and the military, who will all use the new BT network, will be silenced.

And ironically, although BT has taken steps to properly protect its system against cyber criminals, it might have allowed a doomsday digital Trojan Horse, courtesy of China, into the heart of its software.

Okay, that’s pretty far fetched you might say and more suited to a block-buster spy novel. But are these fears based on fact, or an over-ripe imagination? It appears they’ve surfaced because the Chinese company in question has been largely funded by the Chinese state and that its chief was a former member of the People’s Liberation Army.

Fair enough, but then you read that our own homegrown eggheads, Marconi, did not win the business because they were too expensive. And when questioned about the matter, British Government ministers say they can’t now throw out the Chinese work because not only would it be prohibitively expensive to replace, but it might also contravene competition rules.

Only the Brits would take fair play that far. Okay, its unlikely that the Chinese would have placed a Trojan Horse in the new system (although recent stories suggest that the Chinese Government is not beyond a bit of cyber-crime), but why on earth didn’t ministers claim it was a matter of defence and insist the contract went Marconi’s way; just to be on the safe side?

Afterall, across the pond, the Pentagon blocked a merger between the Chinese company in question and a U.S. defence contractor. They didn’t like the Chinese company’s connections to the Chinese state and so put a stop to it. Not for them the niceties of budgets and competition rules.

Why do we have to still stick to Marquis of Queensbury’s rules?

Guest Article by Neil Camp

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