|
Bloomberg Businessweek cited 17 unnamed intelligence and company
sources as saying that Chinese spies had placed computer chips
inside equipment used by around 30 companies, as well as
multiple U.S. government agencies, which would give Beijing
secret access to internal networks.
Reuters was unable to reach Apple, Amazon or representatives
with the FBI, Dept of Homeland Security Agency and National
Security Agency for comment.
China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond
to a written request for comment on Thursday. Beijing has
previously denied allegations of orchestrating cyber attacks
against Western companies.
Amazon, in a statement published by Bloomberg, said: "We've
found no evidence to support claims of malicious chips or
hardware modifications."
Apple said it had refuted "virtually every aspect" of the story
in on-record responses to Bloomberg. "Apple has never found
malicious chips, 'hardware manipulations' or vulnerabilities
purposely planted in any server," the company said.
Bloomberg reported that the malicious chips were planted by a
unit of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, which infiltrated
the supply chain of a hardware company called Supermicro. The
operation is thought to have been targeting valuable commercial
secrets and government networks, the news agency said.
A representative for Supermicro at its European headquarters in
the Netherlands said the company was unable to provide an
immediate comment.
There have been increased concerns about foreign intelligence
agencies infiltrating U.S. and other companies via so-called
"supply chain attacks", particularly from China where multiple
global tech firms outsource their manufacturing.
The U.S. government on Wednesday warned that a hacking group
widely known as cloudhopper, which Western cybersecurity firms
have linked to the Chinese government, has launched attacks on
technology service providers in a campaign to steal data from
their clients.
The warning came after experts with two prominent U.S.
cybersecurity companies warned this week that Chinese hacking
activity has surged amid the escalating trade war between
Washington and Beijing.
(Reporting by Jack Stubbs in London, Sweta Singh in Bangalore,
Jim Finkle in New York and Adam Jourdan in Beijing; editing by
Jason Neely and Susan Fenton)
[© 2018 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2018 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
 |
|
