Apple Demands Bloomberg To Take Down Chinese Chip Hacking Report
A few weeks back, Blooomberg had reported that Chinese spies had compromised more than 30 US companies. This was apparently done by planting malicious chips into their servers while they were being manufactured in China. Through this chip, hackers where then able to create a backdoor into any networks running on the said server. The list of companies also includes tech giant Apple which has denied all the claims made by the report. Furthermore, Apple CEO Tim Cook had now asked Bloomberg to take down the report.
The incident took place back in 2015, and according to the report, Apple had discovered the said ‘breach’. The report also states that Apple had cut ties with the vendor, Supermicro and reported the incident to the FBI. While the tech giant not only denies the report, it also made a detailed company statement signed by the Vice President of Information Security, refuting the claims of such an incident. However, Bloomberg did not back down after this. They proceeded to publish a follow up story which further backed up the original report.
Apple’s Rebuttal
In an interview with a news agency, Tim Cook said that he was personally involved in the response to the story by the company. The CEO said that they searched through Emails, data centre records, financial records and shipment records and found nothing. He further said ,”This did not happen. There’s no truth to this”. Bloomberg on the other hand, said that this the report is the result of more than a year of research and reporting which involves more than a 100 interviews. They claim sources such as government officials and insiders at companies who confirmed the attack. They further said “We stand by our story and are confident in our reporting and sources.”
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This is the first time Apple has asked a company to take down a report for carrying false information. Earlier reports which showed the company in a poor light and were made from fragmented tales did not bother them so much. With both sides not willing to back down from their respective claims and defending their sides, it is difficult to say as to who is actually presenting the truth.
