UK's Cyber Security Agency Supports Apple's Denial That Chinese Spies Infiltrated iCloud Servers

[cmaier]

I still dunno why Apple would raise issues over incorrect reporting when they have also repeatedly said they do not get involved in media press.

When its not their stuff on the line, they may. but no one told me that.

Let sleeping dogs, lie

Because if they kept quiet people would assume that proves the story is true, and they they are under a gag order.

 

[Abazigal]

And just like clockwork today we get a report from the White House about how China is threatening national security because of their electronics manufacturing, we are all at risk, blah blah blah. Just call it and admit that this whole Bloomberg story was crap to drum up tariff support.

It's looking more and more that Bloomberg may have fallen for the “Judith Miller” Trap. Judith Miller was a NYT reporter who was fed false WMD info to drum up support for Iraq war. Recall, a fake story to Judith Miller, she dutifully published her “scoop”, Dick Cheney then went on a Sunday show to push for invading Iraq citing the NYT story he had planted.

People inside Trump Administration who want to decouple China and US completely used Bloomberg as tool. Which then begs the question - was Bloombery their willing ally, or unwitting pawn?

 

[IG88]

I wasn’t talking about the Bloomberg article. I was responding to a specific post, which I included in my response. Next time, read.

You can take your own advice.

 

[cmaier]

You can take your own advice.

I did. I read his statement, in which he suggested designers were adding surreptitious circuitry to chips. I responded to his statement while citing his words. I then read your chastising me for not addressing something completely unrelated to what he said. I suggest that your time would be better served moving on rather than “correcting” people for not writing about what you want them to write about.

But if you insist that I address the original article, I’ve already done so in multiple threads, dozens of times.

 

[usarioclave]

Actually many chips on the board communicate using a standard bus system (I2C / SMBUS), so you could in theory attach anywhere on the bus to tap into it. There are reasons this story is implausible, but this isn't one of them.

So you're saying that you can do all of those things referenced in the bloomberg article via I2c/SMBus? After reading the docs, I think not.

Are you saying it's possible to stick a random chip onto a motherboard without anyone noticing? Or it's possible to stick a chip that can take control of a machine, inject information into an OS, an exfiltrate data to some unknown destination?

 

[BuddyTronic]

I still dunno why Apple would raise issues over incorrect reporting when they have also repeatedly said they do not get involved in media press.

When its not their stuff on the line, they may. but no one told me that.

Let sleeping dogs, lie. Apple users already know this is fake... so really by Apple screaming to "make it worse by debating this" they too are re-interrating something no one really needs to even know..

If only a handful of people believed it, they will talk to Apple themselves... for their source.

I'm surprised Apple even went this far to publicly deny it... Because they too are doing the same they swore NOT to do. and UK is backing them up as a result of public knowledge of this.

So, the old 'ball & chain' game keeps going.

UK backing them up doesn't mean very much unfortunately. If you want to know why - I can recite what is out there, but if you are thinking seriously about it, you can figure it out too. I think it was good for Tim Cook to say what he said. I think he speaks the truth. But maybe he really doesn't know - I mean - he is not on the front line seeing the test results of machines with bugged IC's installed. He gets reports from people downstream.

The whole thing is still plausible - but maybe unlikely.

 

[Tigger11]

UK backing them up doesn't mean very much unfortunately. If you want to know why - I can recite what is out there, but if you are thinking seriously about it, you can figure it out too. I think it was good for Tim Cook to say what he said. I think he speaks the truth. But maybe he really doesn't know - I mean - he is not on the front line seeing the test results of machines with bugged IC's installed. He gets reports from people downstream.

The whole thing is still plausible - but maybe unlikely.

Tim had to pay millions of dollars to replace 7000+ infected machines according to Bloomberg. Really think that sudden expenditure doesn’t stand out? How much manpower and how many man hours to go through all the server farms and find the specific 7000 infected machines and remove them and bring their replacements on line? Really think Jimmy the junior IT guy calls the FBI tells them about this, and no one else knows about it? The FBI gets hands on the boards and again no one tells upper management? We get leaks all the time from Apple employees on upcoming projects really think an effort this huge has no leaks from Apple or Amazon just people talking about it with Bloomberg, no one else knows anything about this. Also as defined by the Bloomberg article it’s not plausible from the hardware or the software side.
-Tig

 

[Macintoshrumors]

Supermicro will sue Bloomberg literally out of existance, Hulk Hogan style.

Doubt it

 

[iapplelove]

The article is mostly right, but someone made it look like China is doing the spying when in reality it is someone else.

Who do we know that has a history of installing spy chips on computers?
Hint: Snowden told us.

Come on now, every company wants to spy on the US. Gain an edge.

China, Russia hell even our allies. Given a chance, they will spy.

I think there is some validity here. Again as I posted before Apple already caught this company once back in 2016 and that was well documented by Apple.

You think that was the first and only time?

 

[Joesmith13245]

Good that the Brits have some honesty on this issue. Otherwise as someone posted on Quora, if the Chinese had such capability in miniaturising such feature in a chip of the size suggested, then China truly has America beat on the technology front. In the meantime there's been a mad rush on Taobao at RMB0.70 ie. US$0.15 each.

They do have us(US) beat on the technology front.

 

[alexgowers]

Business week got it from their source theonion.com

I get the feeling someone was trolling business week, it seems like a joke has been played on tech illiterates there right down to the silly chip on a fingertip picture.

 

[BeanieMan]

That is some Kavanaugh-like Apple propaganda right there.
If you actually cared about your own, your family and your countrymen security you should hold Apple in an arms length and let a third party do a forensic research.

You do not fathom the consequences if ANY of what Bloomberg has reported is true. Apple is a private company and should not get a free pass just because you owe a few of their products.

You sure inferred a lot from my little comment.

However, I personally don't see any indication in my comment about my contemplation of the consequences of the Bloomberg report containing truth.

I also see no indication that I desire to give Apple any free passes.

Just as you (and I) would not give Apple a free pass, I would not give these "journalists" a free pass by blindly accepting their widely rejected claims. Note that this is not to say that I 100% believe the denials. However, journalists are just other people, as prone to faults and ulterior motives as any other.

As a matter of national security, the Bloomberg authors, imho, should refer their sources to the proper govt authorities. (perhaps they have in fact done so.)

Feel free to make any additional unfounded assertions about what I care about, what I fathom, or to whom I give free passes.