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Apple CEO Tim Cook Calls on Bloomberg to Retract Supply Chain Hack Story: 'There's No Truth to This'

Kudos to Bloomberg for not succumbing to pressure and getting this out there. As of now there's no real reason to believe they're wrong, because even if they were 100% right Apple would respond exactly the same way they're responding now.

That doesn't mean Bloomberg is right either, but this is the result of over 100 interviews and a year of investigation with several high level sources.
CWallace said:
I personally am in agreement with the speculation that the Administration wanted to generate "outrage" against China to support the sanctions they have instituted and certain sources within the National Security echelons were tasked with spreading vague insinuations about Chinese espionage against US companies.

Bloomberg had no reason to doubt these sources, but with no solid statements to what said Chinese espionage was, they contacted various Information Security professionals, one who commented on the specific "hardware hack". Bloomberg then went back to these sources and asked if this was what they were talking about and they went "yes" even though they had no real idea - they were just pushing an agenda from on-high. So Bloomberg ran with it, presuming it to be confirmed as true when it in fact was not.
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No one needs to "generate" outrage against China. China takes care of that all on their own, with their own regular behavior.
 
Swift said:
What they never did was show us the device. Prove their case. They worked on it for years, but they never got anybody to talk, or anything to say that was more than a "they could," or "some say." That's not "fake news," but it's less than the impact it needs. Imagine, Pearl Harbor, and for some reason, the strongest story you got was, "The Japanese May Have Dropped Some Bombs," or, "Some Say There Was a Lot of Destruction." They'd be laughed out of time. If they had just covered the story with, "This may happen in the future, and some think it already has," which is the actual story they have. But they swung for the fences, and the story was too ambitious.
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There was another Bloomberg story citing security consultant Yossi Appleboum who claimed to have found the fake devices on the motherboards using thermal imaging. Appleboum even called one of the hardware hacks, an altered Ethernet connector, "my old friend" because it has been a standard ploy used for years by many intelligence services.

Tim Cook's denial may be correct -- none of the hardware at Apple warehouses or factories was ever compromised. It was instead intercepted in transit and altered by Chinese intelligence operatives on its way to the targeted customers. Apple would never know about these altered devices unless a customer complained. If Apple purchased hacked servers, how would they know unless they were brought into the investigation? Highly unlikely as this is Top Secret stuff. Apple did cancel its use of a certain company's hardware at its data centers -- surely just a coincidence... :cool:
 
The US, world king of espionage, spying, intelligence gathering, infiltration, election interference, etc, accusing a rising China that threatens US dominance? How surprising. For once I agree with Tim.
 
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gavroche said:
Curious to know what you find fishy here? All we have is an accusation, based on unnamed sources... and strong denial from all related parties. But what is it that you find fishy?

It's sad that this is the general state of affairs in our country now. All you need is an accusation. No evidence whatsoever needed.
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Agreed, and I would add a number (5) Trump has shown he really doesnt care what people think of his policies. I really dont think he would waste his time trying to generate outrage against China to further his agenda.
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I don't know what side is fishy but one side is lying. Thats what I meant about the fishy comment :)
 
lkrupp said:
The rules are very, very different for journalists. To sue Bloomberg Apple would have to prove Bloomberg knew the story was false and published it with malice for the purpose of damaging Apple intentionally. That’s a pretty high bar. Apple knows it and so does Bloomberg. So don’t read anything into Apple not suing Bloomberg. It ain’t gonna happen.
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The rules aren’t different because the alleged defamer is a journalist. Institutional news sources don’t enjoy greater constitutional protections, when it comes to free speech rights, than individuals do. The freedom of the press in the Constitution refers to the freedom to use technology (e.g., the printing press) to disseminate information, not to special protections for professional news sources.

What makes a difference when it comes to defamation law is who the allegedly defamed is, and to some extent the subject matter of the alleged defamation. So it matters that it would be Apple that was allegedly defamed rather than some John Doe.

However, the actual malice requirement which then comes into play doesn’t mean that a plaintiff has to prove that the defendant published the false statements with an intent to cause the plaintiff harm. Actual malice, in this context, means that the alleged defamer published the statements either knowing they were false or with a reckless disregard for the truth.
 
macfacts said:
Bloomberg doesn't make computers nor smartphones. Why would Apple care if Bloomberg gets to see some internal documents.
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Because much of Apple's competitive advantage is R&D, since courts clearly DGAF about Samsung copying them. Since then, they've turned the tables, and now everyone is in that business. But the one thing Apple has going for itself is control.

If you have any doubt, take a look at how many copied that idiotic notch. It isn't about strength of design; it's about out-designing and getting to market with a sizeable lead time. The MTTC (tm), or "Mean Time To Copy" is reduced drastically if someone over at Bloatberg sends, say, several internal patent docs over that were otherwise not yet filed. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
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AgentAnonymous said:
Kudos to Bloomberg for not succumbing to pressure and getting this out there. As of now there's no real reason to believe they're wrong, because even if they were 100% right Apple would respond exactly the same way they're responding now.

That doesn't mean Bloomberg is right either, but this is the result of over 100 interviews and a year of investigation with several high level sources.
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Until Bloomberg presents their evidence and sources/witnesses for Apple's examination and questioning, I will continue to believe Apple.

Though a criminal matter is obviously much different, if I were accused of a crime, I would have the right to examine evidence and witnesses making assertions. Apple having the same ability would quickly wrap this up.
 
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citysnaps said:
Until Bloomberg presents their evidence and sources/witnesses for Apple's examination and questioning, I will continue to believe Apple.

Though a criminal matter is obviously much different, if I were accused of a crime, I would have the right to examine evidence and witnesses making assertions. Apple having the same ability would quickly wrap this up.
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I am with you on this one. What a time we live in, when we trust a huge company over a (supposedly trustworthy) news publication.
 
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Freida said:
What would happen if it wasn't? Not saying its real but saying WHAT IF...? Something is definitely fishy here but which side it is will only be known in about 10-20 years :D
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What if what? If anyone at any point in time comes up with some insane idea about topic, what if it were true? What if this idea based on zero actual facts were true? I don't know, what if little space men lived inside my teeth and were transmitting everything I say to Omicron Persei 8?

I don't get it.

There are zero sources that are telling their story to the public. Every alleged company involved denies it. Multiple government agencies deny it.
 
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macfacts said:
If someone wrote some false things about my company, I would be suing, not asking politely for a retraction.

Why is Tim afraid to sue?
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If it was Steve Jobs, probably.
But we live in a different time. Tim Cook is more level headed. Besides, today’s “news” organizations are hyper sensitive that any criticism against them would cause them to judge you as right wing Trump supporter, and Tim definitely doesn’t need that.
 
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pika2000 said:
If it was Steve Jobs, probably.
But we live in a different time. Tim Cook is more level headed. Besides, today’s “news” organizations are hyper sensitive that any criticism against them would cause them to judge you as right wing Trump supporter, and Tim definitely doesn’t need that.
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Agree. Giving Bloomberg a chance for issuing a retraction is the decent thing to do. But just one chance.
 
Abazigal said:
I am with you on this one. What a time we live in, when we trust a huge company over a (supposedly trustworthy) news publication.
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Because those “news” publications are also for profit companies, and the have not been trustworthy for a while when they focus on their ad revenues instead of their integrity.
 
Freida said:
What would happen if it wasn't? Not saying its real but saying WHAT IF...? Something is definitely fishy here but which side it is will only be known in about 10-20 years :D
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Blomberg has lied before. Not saying their story is impossible to be true but I do not trust someone who has lied at least once.
It is media after all. They live and breath by feeding shocking stories to us. And when there are no shocking stories, they feel the need to fabricate one.
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- rob - said:
That Bloomberg refuses to stand down is a pretty serious statement from that news organization. I’ve worked with their reporters before and they are professionals..
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Professionals he? Are they the same "professionals" who lied about poor sales of iPhone X and never said they were wrong? They have to be.
So yeah, completely shocked here they did it again.
I keep saying this, media and journalists are no better then cooperations and I have absolutely no trust on them. Stories (true or fake) are their core business. That's how they make a living.
 
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If Tim is 100% honest here, why do Apple themselves need to turn their own company upside in related to this "fake" story? Will that make better headline if they did ? If Apple 'knows' they were telling the truth, there is nothing to search for.

By sifting through something would indicate they had doubts about their own.

BvizioN said:
Blomberg has lied before. Not saying their story is impossible to be true but I do not trust someone who has lied at least once.
It is media after all.
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It IS media, but many other companies (in general) also have their own sources as well... But we believe them *all the time* That's a much bigger worry than Bloomberg alone.
 
- rob - said:
This is getting a little bit weird. For Tim to call for a retraction suggests the article must have hit on a core value of the company.

I would guess it has to do with customer privacy and customer trust, where if Apple was the victim of a malicious actor like this and then covered it up, customer data could have been stolen without acknowledgment.

That Bloomberg refuses to stand down is a pretty serious statement from that news organization. I’ve worked with their reporters before and they are professionals.

So I am surprised by this situation where Apple has ratchets it up as far as it can go and Bloomberg has not backed down or released additional information to support the claim.

Very strange situation.
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Bloomberg are anything but professional. They keep making stories up and have a nasty habit of lying.
 
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shplock said:
Bloomberg are anything but professional. They keep making stories up and have a nasty habit of lying.
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Are you saying Bloomberg are straight up lying? (despite working on the story for 18 months)? Are you saying the 17 sources Bloomberg got information independently from don't exist? These 17 people just happened to make up the same story without knowing about anyone else? or do you tow the company line "nothing to see here, oh look at the iPhone Xr"
 
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NT1440 said:
Man we’re gonna be in for a fun ride 50 years from now when declassified documents point to the chips being real...but part of the US’s surveillance scheme.

Only half joking.
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Take a look at your MacBook’s motherboard. Now try to add a working uC with minimum core functionality, sufficient amount of on chip memory and network access with only 6 Pins without altering the motherboard so it could stay undiscovered. This is simply not possible today and surely wasn’t 4 to 6 years ago.
This hack doesn’t work without Supermicro being involved and knowing about it beforehand. And there are lots of People to be silenced afterwards that it would again be hard to keep it secret.
This is a dumb story to disparage the Chinese for some (political?) reason.

If it would be possible why stop with Supermicro? And while we are at that, Mobilephones would make a way better target.
 
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