Huawei is failing to convince the UK it can be trusted

The Huawei Cyber Security Evaluation Centre, which monitors the company's activities in the United Kingdom, said in an annual report Thursday that it has identified "further significant technical issues" related to the company's engineering processes. It said Huawei has made "no material progress" on similar problems raised in last year's report.

As a result, the watchdog said it "continues to be able to provide only limited assurance that the long-term security risks can be managed in the Huawei equipment currently deployed in the United Kingdom."

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The group, which includes officials from Britain's GCHQ intelligence agency, said it would be "difficult" to manage risks from future Huawei product deployments unless the company's software engineering and cyber security processes are fixed.

The report could make it more difficult for Huawei to convince the UK government and telecommunications companies that its products are safe as they prepare to build superfast 5G networks.

The United States has been pressuring countries around the world not to use Huawei equipment in the next generation of wireless networks, saying products from the Chinese company present a security risk.

Huawei has repeatedly denied the accusations, and called on the Trump administration to provide evidence to back up its claims.

The company, which is the world's largest supplier of telecoms equipment, said Thursday that it had launched a program aimed at resolving the issues raised by the United Kingdom.

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"We understand these concerns and take them very seriously," a Huawei spokesperson said.

"To ensure the ongoing security of global telecom networks, the industry, regulators, and governments need to work together on higher common standards for cyber security," the spokesperson added.

The UK watchdog said in its report that Huawei must do more.

The group's oversight board said it "has not yet seen anything to give it confidence in Huawei's capacity to successfully complete" its transformation program.

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