The report read like a dream come nightmare of the Tech industry: hackers in the Chinese military has been spying Chips in the Server for Apple and Amazon. The companies deny.
Apple and Amazon have rejected vigorously a media report stating that, you Chips from Chinain had the spy discovered their servers. The financial service Bloomberg had reported, citing unnamed government employees, and Apple executives that the tiny parts could have allowed attackers to take control of the Server and information. Around 30 U.S. companies had potentially been affected, it said.
Should confirm the report, it would be arguably the largest data spying affair since the revelations of Whistleblower Edward Snowden. The former NSA employee, had revealed in 2013, large-scale Surveillance and espionage activities of the intelligence services NSA and GCHQ in the United States and the United Kingdom.
“Any information to the FBI”
In the Bloomberg report, however, called the first, only to Apple and Amazon in particular. The company responded on Thursday with an unusually detailed denials. “Apple has never malicious Chips, ‘manipulated’ Hardware ‘ or deliberately placed weaknesses in servers found,” explained the iPhone group.
Also, you have – unlike Bloomberg presented informed – never the FBI about the suspicious Chips. Only once, had been found on a Server of the Bloomberg supply company Super Micro in the Apple lab, an infected driver. In the process, but was not a targeted attack against Apple found.
Amazon also stated that they had not found any confirmation for the allegations of espionage Chips or modified technology. Bloomberg had written that Online retailers have discovered the suspicious technique, to 2015, for the Acquisition of the company Elemental Technologies.
Bloomberg report with lots of Details
At the same time, the Bloomberg report is very detail but it is rich. Accordingly, the secret investigations of the US authorities in connection with the spy Chips have already been running for three years. The investigators had found out that they had been introduced in factories in China in the electronics of the Server from Super Micro, presumably by hackers from the Chinese military. Their goal was to get long-term access to the secrets of companies and authorities, one of the government employees.
Customer data it is passed. Server with technology from Super Micro had, among other things, in banks and providers of Cloud services in use.
Super Micro announced that the company, no investigations are known to the above-mentioned allegations and it had been by any government Agency contacted.
Research for several years
Currently, America is intensifying-China Trade dispute and US President, Donald Trump is trying to bring American companies is more High-Tech production in the United States. From the Apple-denial is apparent at the same time that Bloomberg was already since at least November 2017 to the story.
Apple said the group, no corresponding FBI investigations are known. And, unlike Bloomberg, it should be run the assistant software on servers from Super Micro. 2000 of them had been for the Apple acquired Social Media analysis company Topsy. “On none of these servers ever malicious Chips were found.”
Apple also stressed that the group got from the authorities not muzzle the mouth of miss and also am not under any other Confidentiality agreements.
A Potential Security Vulnerability?
At the same time, had already written in February, the industry-service “The Information”, Apple had completed in 2016, the business relationship with Super Micro, after a Server has a potential security vulnerability has been found.
In a further article in the night of Friday, Bloomberg wrote that even Facebook of a different kind of attack had been affected on the Server from Super Micro. It had been loaded on the devices prepared operating Software, with the attacker’s data may be diverting. She had been installed over a prepared Update function. Facebook explained to Bloomberg, the Hardware from Super Micro had only been for Tests in the laboratory used and be dismantled.
ul/bea (dpa)