Department of Homeland Security Has 'No Reason to Doubt' Apple's Denial of Supply Chain Compromise

[MacRumors]

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security today said it has "no reason to doubt" the companies who denied a bombshell Bloomberg Businessweek report this week about Chinese spies using a tiny chip to infiltrate U.S. companies.

Homeland Security's full statement:

The Department of Homeland Security is aware of the media reports of a technology supply chain compromise. Like our partners in the UK, the National Cyber Security Centre, at this time we have no reason to doubt the statements from the companies named in the story. Information and communications technology supply chain security is core to DHS's cybersecurity mission and we are committed to the security and integrity of the technology on which Americans and others around the world increasingly rely. Just this month - National Cybersecurity Awareness Month - we launched several government-industry initiatives to develop near- and long-term solutions to manage risk posed by the complex challenges of increasingly global supply chains. These initiatives will build on existing partnerships with a wide range of technology companies to strengthen our nation's collective cybersecurity and risk management efforts.

Apple, Amazon, and Supermicro have all strongly refuted the report, which alleged that Chinese intelligence planted microchips in Supermicro servers, which Apple and Amazon previously used in their data centers.

Apple and Bloomberg Businessweek are in a stalemate, with the former strongly refuting the report, and the latter standing by its reporting.

Apple's denial has been backed by not only the Department of Homeland Security, but also the UK's national cyber security agency, retired Apple general counsel Bruce Sewell, and other unnamed senior executives within Apple.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Article Link: Department of Homeland Security Has 'No Reason to Doubt' Apple's Denial of Supply Chain Compromise

 

[RedGala]

Bloomberg Businessweek's reputation is indefinitely tainted in my eyes.

 

[A MacBook lover]

Bloomberg Businessweek's reputation is indefinitely tainted in my eyes.

Aren’t almost all media outlets ?

 

[thisisnotmyname]

So was the cry of "fake news" real for once?

 

[ctg7w6]

If it really did happen it would make sense to deny it so that the enemy doesn’t know you know...

 

[Apple_Robert]

Either a good game of pysops, or Bloomberg owes Apple a printed apology.

 

[kildraik]

Looks like Apple has the big guns on their assessments.

 

[projectle]

The problem is that we don’t know if this is inherent bias in the questioning by the journalist who wrote the story. Did they ask explicitly “did you find security vulnerabilities in SuperMicro servers that led your organization to cancel the contract with them prematurely” or was it “tell me what you know” and each of these independent parties presented a very similar story.

Finally, even if true, it’s in the best interest of everyone involved to protect their brand and if real downplay it significantly or state there were mitigating controls in place that would prevent said vulnerability from being exploitable.

 

[cmaier]

There’s literally no evidence it is true, and tons of evidence that it is false. Among the most compelling arguments against it being true is that it’s so technically infeasible as to border on impossible.

 

[jon3543]

Where are the photos of the actual compromised boards and the demonstrations of the exploits?

 

[boswald]

Where are the photos of the actual compromised boards and the demonstrations of the exploits?

Like they’d ever disclose that to the public.

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

Second link in this article appears to be broken - supposedly it links to the earlier MacRumors story, but it asks me to login.

Edit: The link is only broken if you try clicking it from the news thread in the forum. From the actual main website, the link works.

 

[HiRez]

If this story is proven to be false, Bloomberg needs to pay a big price for it. In addition to damaging reputations and scaring people, tens of billions of dollars got wiped off peoples 401Ks.

 

[symphony]

All according to plan.

 

[Andres Cantu]

Fantastic, now the stock can go back up. Thanks, Bloomberg!

 

[az431]

If this story is proven to be false, Bloomberg needs to pay a big price for it. In addition to damaging reputations and scaring people, tens of billions of dollars got wiped off peoples 401Ks.

When did that happen? Stock is down about the same percentage as the entire market due to fears about rising bod yields. This story has had zero effect on the stock, hasn’t scared anyone, nor has it damaged anyone’s reputation. Anyone with an IQ higher than a cucumber’s could tell this story is crap by the second paragraph.

 

[Gherkin]

If you get all the people in on it to deny it, it sounds pretty convincing...

 

[imnotthewalrus]

Like they’d ever disclose that to the public.

It was a valid point/question. If you are going to claim a story of this magnitude, and then defend it when challenged, mere reputation or word of mouth is hardly enough.

 

[yadmonkey]

So was the cry of "fake news" real for once?

For once?

 

[alphaod]

Someone tells me someone was aiming to earn money on a dropping Super Micro, Apple, or Amazon stock.
[doublepost=1538885238][/doublepost]

Anyone with an IQ higher than a cucumber’s could tell this story is crap by the second paragraph.

I don't think you realize how many people don't understand how technology works.

 

[acorntoy]

Ok guys we understand it’s fake. It’s starting to look more suspicious that so many people are releasing denials.

 

[madKIR]

Trump America is a joke! I can’t even believe I’m reading all this nonsense! Such an obvious manipulation and a pathetic attempt to steer attention away from the whole Russia thing.

 

[fairuz]

So was the cry of "fake news" real for once?

If Bloomberg was lying, then this and the Buzzfeed dossier are the two truly fake stories I've heard of on media outlets that aren't meant to be parodies (though those can confuse people too). From what I've seen, the "fake news" sources are just really misleading or opinion-laden, not outright fake. And the major ones like CNN sometimes fall into that category.
[doublepost=1538886901][/doublepost]

Where are the photos of the actual compromised boards and the demonstrations of the exploits?

I wouldn't be surprised if there were some reason to hide it. I wouldn't call the story fake. But there's nothing anyone can do without evidence, so...

 

[0924487]

When did that happen? Stock is down about the same percentage as the entire market due to fears about rising bod yields. This story has had zero effect on the stock, hasn’t scared anyone, nor has it damaged anyone’s reputation. Anyone with an IQ higher than a cucumber’s could tell this story is crap by the second paragraph.

You know 50% of Americans have double digit IQs. You can't assume everything. Speech do harm, especially from a source of assumed credibility.

 

[mozumder]

Aren’t almost all media outlets ?

Only if you're a narcissist and think you know more than all professional media.