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Apple CEO Tim Cook has asked Bloomberg Business to return to a story that his company has been the victim of a physical attack by the Chinese government. This is the first time that Apple is publicly demanding a retraction, according to BuzzFeed.
Since Bloomberg published this exclusive article 15 days ago, many companies, well-placed government officials and security researchers have publicly challenged its accuracy. Apple and Amazon said they had no knowledge of the discovery or removal of servers containing the type of Bloomberg's alleged spy chips alleged to have been discovered on the company's networks. Supermicro also denied having knowledge of the secret implantation of malicious chips into any of its motherboards during the manufacturing process, reported Bloomberg.
Meanwhile, a US Department of Homeland Security official said that he had no reason to doubt the denials of Apple and Amazon, and a senior official of the National The Security Agency stated that the vast resources available to it did not confirm the report. As Ars reported last week, computer hardware experts, including two who had been contacted by Bloomberg to report on the story, said Bloomberg's alleged smart back doors types are extremely complex, including when they are introduced into the supply chain. They said that state-sponsored hackers would likely prefer to exploit the many firmware vulnerabilities affecting Supermicro's motherboards and other manufacturers.
An article published by BuzzFeed on Friday indicates that Cook is now asking Bloomberg to withdraw its assertions, which are only attributed to unpublished information provided by 17 unnamed people who, according to the press service, have worked for US government agencies and companies that have discovered networks. Cook then published a new series of unusually straightforward refusals.
According to BuzzFeed:
"I've been involved in our response to this story since the beginning," Cook said.
"I personally spoke to Bloomberg reporters with Bruce Sewell, who was then our general counsel. We were very clear with them that it did not happen and answered all their questions, "Cook said. "Whenever they told us that, the story changed and every time we investigated, we found nothing."
"It did not happen. There is no truth to that. "
In addition to challenging the report itself, Cook also challenged the lack of evidence provided by Bloomberg to document its claims. Cook said the reporters had never provided Apple with specific details about the malicious chips it found and removed. He added that he thought the allegations were supported by "second-hand vague accounts".
"We put the company upside down," Cook said. "Email searches, data center records, financial records, shipping records. We really searched the scientific society to dig deeply and each time we came back to the same conclusion: it did not happen. There is no truth to that. "
In an email, a Bloomberg representative wrote, "The Bloomberg Businessweek survey is the result of more than a year of reports, during which we conducted more than 100 interviews. Seventeen individual sources, including government officials and corporate insiders, confirmed the handling of computer hardware and other elements of the attacks. We also released the full statements of three companies, as well as a statement from the Chinese Foreign Ministry. We remain faithful to our history and are confident in our reports and our sources. "
The representative did not respond to questions regarding Bloomberg's anonymous source policy or whether the service intended to provide verifiable evidence in light of the unusually strong and detailed denials.
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