NSA Senior Advisor Latest to Question Report Claiming China Hacked Apple's Former Server Supplier

[VictorTango777]

that would be illegal for apple to do.

While the statement itself may be true, it cannot be used to disprove the allegations. The illegality of something does not preclude a person or group from committing the act. Otherwise, criminals would not exist.

There is a Netflix documentary about the company Herbalife. In the customer reviews, many people called the company a pyramid scheme. One person defending Herbalife basically kept arguing "They are not a pyramid scheme because pyramid schemes are illegal".

 

[shplock]

It definitely seems that Bloomberg is on to something. I can see why these companies aren't entertaining the possibility. Lots of risk if some political figure starts (rightly or wrongly) churning this up into some sort of panic among the general populace and turning sentiment against CE devices manufactured in the PRC.

Except that Bloomberg is hardly the last word in truth. They lie, lie and lie some more! They are about as trustworthy as a professional liar.
They have a track record.
Apple have zero need to tell lies here and even if you put your tin foil hat on there still is no reason for the conspiracy theory that they are pretending that they were ordered to pretend the story is false.
I mean where is Bloomberg's evidence? Why not name their sources? Why the silence since the story broke ? Apple have been detailed in their response to the story. Some times you have to admit that to continue believing in a conspiracy in spite of all evidence is simply paranoid.
[doublepost=1539197019][/doublepost]

I’m sure Apple was hacked... I wouldn’t admit it either.

Edit... well not Apple but their machines they purchased.

They already admitted it once back in 2016.

No they did not admit their devices were hacked in 2016. That was a corrupted driver that was not a result of any deliberate attempt nor is this. Bloomberg simply once again made this up as they make so much up!

 

[DVD9]

Way too many officials disputing it which means it’s probably true

17 sources.

This issue cannot be allowed to disappear. It is true or it is false. We must know.

Unfortunately, most of the corporate media has zero interest in this story. If there's no Russia connection then they want the story gone. A Chinese spy who was a Chinese national was arrested in our military (!) a week ago. Mostly crickets from outlets like the Washington Post. These media outlets are pro-China just as Apple is.

 

[SeattleMoose]

If it is a physical chip and not code, then it would be visible upon inspection.
Have inspections been done, how many, and what has been found?
Can you take your iDevice into an Apple store and ask for an inspection?

 

[shplock]

Did it or did it not already happen in 2016 according to Apple?

Conspiracy theory I think not.

it did not happen! Read the facts! It was a infected driver that was not the result of any deliberate hacking! That is not meaning that there is any truth to that story or this being deliberate hacking attempts!
Sometimes in life conspiracy really is just that! So take your tin foil hat off and join the real world, with respect.
Bloomberg have ZERO proof that anything happened apart from so called sources they have that they refuse to name. They very well might be made up! Whereas Apple have provided proof in the form of very detailed rebuttal and even independent third parties have also stated there is no truth to the story either from their professional view. Such as a branch of UK GCHQ tech spies and many others who would know what they are talking about.
Simply saying it must have taken place because Apple did not admit it and were ordered to stay silent is as stupid as me saying that you must be a pedophile because you are not admitting it and someone is ordering/threatening you to stay silent!
For the record I do not believe that you are a pedophile nor am I accusing you at all. Simply making a point.

 

[Kabeyun]

Did it or did it not already happen in 2016 according to Apple?

Conspiracy theory I think not.

So. “It,” meaning this, didn’t happen in 2016. In 2016 Apple installed infected firmware in some of their SuperMicro servers isolated to their design lab. Nothing public-facing. And they caught it. And they returned them. And they didn’t deny it. This isn’t the same thing, unless all one understands about it are the are the words “servers,” “Apple,” and “SuperMicro.” In that case the more imaginative among us can concoct a storyline that joins them all together, much to the delight of the uninformed.

This whole thing is deck chairs on the titanic.

Like Nero fiddling while Rome burned.

 

[shplock]

Way too many officials disputing it which means it’s probably true

or perhaps it is not true. Simply wishing something to be true does not make it true.

 

[iapplelove]

No they did not admit their devices were hacked in 2016. That was a corrupted driver that was not a result of any deliberate attempt nor is this. Bloomberg simply once again made this up as they make so much up!

Nope that’s false. Not from the reports that’s been posted on MR.

Clearly states from a high up Apple exect that back in 2016 Apple found one single computer that was in fact tampered.

Why do you think they canceled their order for more machines?

 

[thasan]

Did it or did it not already happen in 2016 according to Apple?

Conspiracy theory I think not.

Did not happen if you are referring to the driver incident. That is well documented. So please stop making things up.
[doublepost=1539200288][/doublepost]

Nope that’s false. Not from the reports that’s been posted on MR.

Clearly states from a high up Apple exect that back in 2016 Apple found one single computer that was in fact tampered.

Why do you think they canceled their order for more machines?

Where did you get information about this? Which post in MR?

 

[Kabeyun]

Just because they haven’t found them, doesn’t mean they aren’t there.

Um, yes it does. Wow.

 

[jona2125]

Where did you get information about this? Which post in MR?

https://www.macrumors.com/2018/10/04/apple-denies-supermicro-china-hacking-report/

In this posting on MR, in Apple's official response they claim to have had one isolated incident:

"Our best guess is that they are confusing their story with a previously-reported 2016 incident in which we discovered an infected driver on a single Super Micro server in one of our labs. That one-time event was determined to be accidental and not a targeted attack against Apple."

Though back during that 2016 event Apple's statement was:

"Apple is deeply committed to protecting the privacy and security of our customers and the data we store. We are constantly monitoring for any attacks on our systems, working closely with vendors and regularly checking equipment for malware. We’re not aware of any data being transmitted to an unauthorized party nor was any infected firmware found on the servers purchased from this vendor."

 

[gwaizai]

Why would anyone believe anything the NSA says? Didn't the head of US intelligence,
under oath mind you, tell Congress that the NSA has never spied on US citizens?
I mean come on...

 

[Moonlight]

If you like conspiracy theories, I have one for you. This is a political hit job from the current administration to cultivate fear and distrust with its tech and trade rivals (Apple, Amazon-Bezos, and China)

 

[stu.h]

Um, yes it does. Wow.

Hardware can be as vulnerable as software, with the right knowledge, I would assume.
I'm not a software or hardware engineer but work in server infrastructure, and I would think it naive that there are hardware exploits out there that haven't been found.

 

[bketchum]

Whatever the case, this may fuel Trump's economic war on China. I can see him further pressuring U.S. firms to move manufacturing back to the States....on security grounds.

 

[justperry]

Hardware can be as vulnerable as software, with the right knowledge, I would assume.
I'm not a software or hardware engineer but work in server infrastructure, and I would think it naive that there are hardware exploits out there that haven't been found.

All traffic is monitored, it would show up.
I've got gear from Ubiquiti worth just a few 100 €, there's DPI on it and monitor it, Aple's amongst other have much more advanced monitoring, it will show up.

I think this whole story is insane and so is the discusion here as well.
There is no chip.(implanted)

 

[pat500000]

Another x-file story.

 

[alexgowers]

It'd be cool to believe in every little conspiracy out there but the reality is that reality needs proof. Baseless assertions have to be backed up. That does not mean I would not allow further investigation but the media outlets also need to show something more than witness testimony with such heavy material as this. You can get people to agree and say anything you want them to with the right questions asked. I personally don't buy it, and will remain neutral on the issue until more steadfast proof is presented.

 

[iapplelove]

Did not happen if you are referring to the driver incident. That is well documented. So please stop making things up.
[doublepost=1539200288][/doublepost]
Where did you get information about this? Which post in MR?

lmao yeah I’m making it all up... come on now

 

[az431]

And not one senator sent letters to Bloogberg to show proof of this?!

Congress is investigating whether a foreign power engaged in a conspiracy to steal secrets from a US corporation, not whether Bloomberg lied about it occurring. With that in mind, it would be odd for them to request information that would be in Apple's possession from a third party (who ostensibly obtained in from someone else).

Even if the Bloomberg is flat out wrong, that would not be something Congress would investigate. It's that whole First Amendment thing you may have heard about.

 

[Kabeyun]

Hardware can be as vulnerable as software, with the right knowledge, I would assume.
I'm not a software or hardware engineer but work in server infrastructure, and I would think it naive that there are hardware exploits out there that haven't been found.

The original story states that there was an actual, physical chip. greenmeanie is trying to use the fact that the chip was never found as evidence that it was in fact there. The story is not about software exploits to hardware. It’s about an actual physical chip.

 

[Piggie]

that would be illegal for apple to do.

I would suggest what's legal or not legal in reality all depends how high up you go.

 

[rols]

I’m sure Apple was hacked... I wouldn’t admit it either.

Edit... well not Apple but their machines they purchased.

They already admitted it once back in 2016.

so you say they wouldn't admit it then end by saying in 2016 they did, in fact, admit it.

 

[iapplelove]

so you say they wouldn't admit it then end by saying in 2016 they did, in fact, admit it.

Yes that’s what I said. In 2016 they came out and admitted to at least one issue, and cancelled their order for thousands more.

This time around no I don’t think they would admit anything especially if they know valuable information has been compromised.

 

[jona2125]

Yes that’s what I said. In 2016 they came out and admitted to at least one issue, and cancelled their order for thousands more.

This time around no I don’t think they would admit anything especially if they know valuable information has been compromised.

Are you sure about this? I've seen reverse info. Their statement back then denied they had faulty firmware and in their recent response about the chip, they referenced the 2016 incident but said they found one isolated incident. The quotes are in an above post of mine.