The U.S. Department of Homeland Security today said it has "no reason to doubt" the companies who denied a bombshell Bloomberg Businessweek report this week about Chinese spies using a tiny chip to infiltrate U.S. companies.
Homeland Security's full statement:
The Department of Homeland Security is aware of the media reports of a technology supply chain compromise. Like our partners in the UK, the National Cyber Security Centre, at this time we have no reason to doubt the statements from the companies named in the story. Information and communications technology supply chain security is core to DHS's cybersecurity mission and we are committed to the security and integrity of the technology on which Americans and others around the world increasingly rely. Just this month – National Cybersecurity Awareness Month – we launched several government-industry initiatives to develop near- and long-term solutions to manage risk posed by the complex challenges of increasingly global supply chains. These initiatives will build on existing partnerships with a wide range of technology companies to strengthen our nation's collective cybersecurity and risk management efforts.
Apple, Amazon, and Supermicro have all strongly refuted the report, which alleged that Chinese intelligence planted microchips in Supermicro servers, which Apple and Amazon previously used in their data centers.
Apple and Bloomberg Businessweek are in a stalemate, with the former strongly refuting the report, and the latter standing by its reporting.
Apple's denial has been backed by not only the Department of Homeland Security, but also the UK's national cyber security agency, retired Apple general counsel Bruce Sewell, and other unnamed senior executives within Apple.
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