Telegraph title: The walls have ears
Telegraph subtitle: An incredible story which describes how Chinese spies attempted to infiltrate Apple and Amazon with ‘spy chips’ is in dispute.
“A thrilling tale of espionage conducted with impressive precision by exploiting an international supply chain has sent ripples through the technology industry.
Both Apple and Amazon are understood to have discovered tiny surveillance chips on hardware they were planning to use for customers including the US government, according to Bloomberg, citing 17 sources who claim to be familiar with the matter.
They said the chips, spotted only after a third party underwent a security check before the tech giants inked contracts with the suppliers were placed there by a subcontractor in China.
APPLE AND AMAZON DENIAL
The revelations are quite astonishing. While we often hear of surveillance made possible by hacking software, orchestrating a hardware hack of this kind seems unprecedented.
Appleissued a strongly wordedand complete denial of Bloomberg’s investigation, claiming that “no one at Apple” had even heard of the snooping scandal until the journalists brought it to their attention.
Amazon has also denied knowledgeof the reportedly ongoing investigation.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
The hack uses the hidden chips to modify how the servers worked and to load remote code from other computers connected to the internet. This would have given hackers the ability to intercept documents stored on and sent through the servers.
Amazon was using the chipped up equipment to help build systems for its sensitive government data storage system, Bloomberg reported.
If true, this raises serious questions about international supply chains. If they face revisions it could add further fuel to the ongoing China-US trade warand, ultimately, up the costs for consumers if companies are forced to use home-made kit in the future.”
Source: email news brief Telegraph Technology Intelligence dated 5 October 2018
Note: all markings (bold, italic, underlining) by LO unless stated otherwise
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