Apple CEO Tim Cook Calls for Bloomberg to Retract Chinese Spy Chip Story

[Megalith]

Following a company statement and a letter to congress signed by executives, Apple is continuing to double down on Bloomberg’s Chinese spy chip story being wholly fictitious: CEO Tim Cook has now gone on record again, stating there is “no truth in their story about Apple” and how the publication should “do that right thing and retract it."

“I was involved in our response to this story from the beginning,” said Cook. “I personally talked to the Bloomberg reporters along with Bruce Sewell, who was then our general counsel. We were very clear with them that this did not happen, and answered all their questions,” said Cook. “Each time they brought this up to us, the story changed, and each time we investigated we found nothing.”

 

[Azphira]

Will they have the government go after after them if they don't?

 

[travisty]

Will they have the government go after after them if they don't?

If Fox News says the government should them yes

 

[sixpac]

Stay classy Apple.

 

[Upgrayedd]

Because it would split the fabric of time if Apple ever admitted anything.

 

[purple_monster]

gee, sounds like some california fruit company could lose a lot of $$$ if it happened to be that their products were compromised.

 

[viper1152012]

Do they have any physical evidence or is it just the reported sources?

 

[harbingerofdoom]

“I was involved in our response to this story from the beginning,” said Cook. “I personally talked to the Bloomberg reporters along with Bruce Sewell, who was then our general counsel. We were very clear with them that this did not happen, and answered all their questions,” said Cook. “Each time they brought this up to us, the story changed, and each time we investigated we found nothing.”

um. okay... then spend some of those massive profits, show the proof of them being wrong, be very vocal and public about it and let them just take it on the chin and be done with it.
quit whining like a 4 year old toddler that was told he cant have candy.

 

[Nytegard]

I do think the Bloomberg article needs to be taken seriously. It wouldn't surprise me one bit if it was written to help someone profit substantially, as they're the only ones who have come out with these accusations, and have doubled down on the accusations when the stock was rebounding.

 

[Meeho]

um. okay... then spend some of those massive profits, show the proof of them being wrong, be very vocal and public about it and let them just take it on the chin and be done with it.
quit whining like a 4 year old toddler that was told he cant have candy.

How should they prove something didn't happen. How about Bloomberg providing any proof for their story? They should be sued to the ground if they can't back it up.

 

[lostinseganet]

Find the chips in the motherboards then.

 

[DocNo]

Find the chips in the motherboards then.

Exactly - if Amazon, Apple and all the other companies really are involved as Bloomberg asserts then SOMEONE should have a chip to show. Something would leak even if you are all conspiracy and think Amazon/Apple are in cahoots with the NSA or other black helicopters

 

[DeathFromBelow]

Exactly - if Amazon, Apple and all the other companies really are involved as Bloomberg asserts then SOMEONE should have a chip to show. Something would leak even if you are all conspiracy and think Amazon/Apple are in cahoots with the NSA or other black helicopters

Gag orders related to espionage are a real thing. It wouldn't surprise me at all if very specific hardware was targeted and the people/companies involved in finding the chips can't talk about it. Otherwise they would have sued Bloomberg already.

 

[harbingerofdoom]

How should they prove something didn't happen. How about Bloomberg providing any proof for their story? They should be sued to the ground if they can't back it up.

several ways to prove these claims are bunk. the point really isnt about how they go about proving or disproving it, should they have to or should they not have to.... the point is, prove it and tell bloomberg to stfu.

for the record, i actually do not believe boomberg. im pretty sure if this were a legit thing, someone would have already come forward with proof since there are PLENTY of apple haters in the world that would love to see this be true... but it bothers me when companies as large as apple sit there and do the corporate equivalent of throwing a small childs tantrum instead of just putting what would be a very minuscule amount of their profits into shutting up someone thats pulling what bloomberg is.

 

[DocNo]

Gag orders related to espionage are a real thing. It wouldn't surprise me at all if very specific hardware was targeted and the people/companies involved in finding the chips can't talk about it. Otherwise they would have sued Bloomberg already.

With as many companies involved and as supposedly widespread as Bloomberg reported on?

Seriously? I mean I enjoy a good conspiracy theory as much as the next guy, but if Alex Jones was reporting this story it would be a bit much even for him at this point.

 

[DocNo]

several ways to prove these claims are bunk.

Such as? What would it take for you to be satisfied they proved a negative?

 

[Prisoner849]

Why is this still going on? It should be very easy to prove conclusively one way or the other and even a few YouTubers likely have the skill to check it out.

 

[steakman1971]

As they say, shit or get off the pot. Bloomberg needs to bring more evidence to the table.
Curious - anyone buy any Supermicro stock? I thought about picking some up, but decided not to.

 

[Prisoner849]

The tinfoil hat in the corner notices no more Russians in the papers. Fake news Trumps Russians?

 

[sirmonkey1985]

Gag orders related to espionage are a real thing. It wouldn't surprise me at all if very specific hardware was targeted and the people/companies involved in finding the chips can't talk about it. Otherwise they would have sued Bloomberg already.

gag orders have never stopped anything.. the fact that there has been literally zero evidence other than hearsay and 1 company that relies on this shit being true to stay relevant randomly comes out saying they have evidence and yet still not providing it tells you there isn't a whole lot of truth to that article.

 

[TheBuzzer]

someone should just make a fake video of a spy chip in apple MacBook. Maybe that will bring down the overpriced systems

 

[SickBeast]

If Bloomberg did fabricate this story or if they posted it without seeing proper proof and evidence, doesn't that make them liable for damages? This could have been someone short selling and manipulating the Super Micro stock.

I want to see the proof. Where are the chips? Where are the supposedly altered Ethernet ports? If this was as widespread as they say, we should be seeing some type of evidence by now.

If Bloomberg got duped they need to come out and say so. I'm wondering if they can get sued into the ground similar to what happened with Hulk Hogan and Gawker.

 

[harbingerofdoom]

Such as? What would it take for you to be satisfied they proved a negative?

do a one-take teardown is the first one that comes to mind. why are you so resistant to apple doing something other than crying like a little baby?




/edit/
again, i dont believe bloomberg, and no, apple does not need to actually DO anything at all. its also not quite the same as proving a negative, it can be done and apple has the resources to do it... so just do it and tell bloomberg to stfu and be done with the whole mess. you might even garner a bit of good will from the non-apple folks.

 

[Meeho]

do a one-take teardown is the first one that comes to mind. why are you so resistant to apple doing something other than crying like a little baby?

What would that prove? Bloomberg would just claim it was one of the unaffected motherboards. This shit is serious and if you can't back up a story like this but still go public, you should get sued to the ground.

 

[Laowai]

I don't really give half of a shit what Tim Cook wants but...
I think we'd all like a bit more proof or a retraction with a side-order of rolling heads.

 

[sirmonkey1985]

If Bloomberg did fabricate this story or if they posted it without seeing proper proof and evidence, doesn't that make them liable for damages? This could have been someone short selling and manipulating the Super Micro stock.

I want to see the proof. Where are the chips? Where are the supposedly altered Ethernet ports? If this was as widespread as they say, we should be seeing some type of evidence by now.

If Bloomberg got duped they need to come out and say so. I'm wondering if they can get sued into the ground similar to what happened with Hulk Hogan and Gawker.

i don't think they intentionally fabricated it, i legit think this reporter was deceived by a source that provided enough evidence to sound real and reported on said sources documents at face value.. what i'd like to see is the writer of said article admit they was deceived and say they'll look further into whether or not that sources claims were real or not, aka BE A JOURNALIST..

 

[Deleted member 93354]

This leaves everyone involved in a difficult position. One of several scenarios could be true:
1. Apple didn't know about the spy components and are now in spin control to save face and stock value as well as brand image. (Bad)
2. Apple is collusion with the government and knows certain products do have a backdoor installed with a "We know nothing" nudge nudge wink wink to the gov't. (That would be damning if caught)
3. Bloomberg's source is making it up in an effort to short sell stock. That would be traceable though. If Bloomberg were to do their due diligence they would have collaborated with outside sources with said hardware. If they didn't that is just bad reporting on their part. (Bad and egg on face)
4. Bloomberg has a rouge reporter who is just creating click bate to raise sell rates.

 

[DocNo]

do a one-take teardown is the first one that comes to mind. why are you so resistant to apple doing something other than crying like a little baby?

FFS - did you read their statement: https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2018/10/what-businessweek-got-wrong-about-apple/

They continually take apart stuff from all their suppliers as part of their secure supply chain management. As do most large vendors and companies.

Crying like a little baby? WTF is that shit? This is business, not Jr. High - if they are lying people can GO TO JAIL - securities fraud is nothing to screw around with, just ask Elon Musk.

I realize this isn't a pro Apple site but for crying out loud give it a rest already.

BTW - since Amazon and Google pretty much said the same thing (even as far as "Tim Cook is right") are they also crying like little babies too?!?

 

[harbingerofdoom]

rant

apparently struck a nerve there.

look you dont have to agree with me, but uh... take the hostility down a notch there eh pal?

 

[Deleted member 93354]

FFS - did you read their statement: https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2018/10/what-businessweek-got-wrong-about-apple/

They continually take apart stuff from all their suppliers as part of their secure supply chain management. As do most large vendors and companies.

Crying like a little baby? WTF is that shit? This is business, not Jr. High - if they are lying people can GO TO JAIL - securities fraud is nothing to screw around with, just ask Elon Musk.

I realize this isn't a pro Apple site but for crying out loud give it a rest already.

BTW - since Amazon and Google pretty much said the same thing (even as far as "Tim Cook is right") are they also crying like little babies too?!?

It's entirely possible these boards that bloomberg had are mail intercepts that have been altered en route to their destination.

Nsa did it to routers on their way to their destination. Maybe they just got caught with their hand in the cookie jar this time.

Pretty soon we will have to challenge response handshake subcomponents on the main board to determine if they are genuine.

 

[N4CR]

Another tech company in cahoots with three letter pervert/industrial espionage agencies, colour me surprised.
There are multiple documented and well proven instances of exactly this or even firmware-level fuckery happening with a wide range of big-name hardware manufacturers, yet people think it's implausible because the news cycle (partially controlled by one of those agencies) said otherwise this time around? Does the dawning realization of cognitive dissonance and NPC-like behaviour of people ignoring this like ostriches, have to be a thing in the information age of 2018? Even 20 seconds of google would easily show lots of evidence for this crap being a real, continuously memory-holed and ongoing issue for many years,
are people this fucking retarded or did I just get out of bed on the wrong side today?

 

[TheCommander]

This leaves everyone involved in a difficult position. One of several scenarios could be true:
1. Apple didn't know about the spy components and are now in spin control to save face and stock value as well as brand image. (Bad)
2. Apple is collusion with the government and knows certain products do have a backdoor installed with a "We know nothing" nudge nudge wink wink to the gov't. (That would be damning if caught)
3. Bloomberg's source is making it up in an effort to short sell stock. That would be traceable though. If Bloomberg were to do their due diligence they would have collaborated with outside sources with said hardware. If they didn't that is just bad reporting on their part. (Bad and egg on face)
4. Bloomberg has a rouge reporter who is just creating click bate to raise sell rates.

And we may never know...

 

[Meeho]

Another tech company in cahoots with three letter pervert/industrial espionage agencies, colour me surprised.
There are multiple documented and well proven instances of exactly this or even firmware-level fuckery happening with a wide range of big-name hardware manufacturers, yet people think it's implausible because the news cycle (partially controlled by one of those agencies) said otherwise this time around? Does the dawning realization of cognitive dissonance and NPC-like behaviour of people ignoring this like ostriches, have to be a thing in the information age of 2018? Even 20 seconds of google would easily show lots of evidence for this crap being a real, continuously memory-holed and ongoing issue for many years,
are people this fucking retarded or did I just get out of bed on the wrong side today?

Or it is that people on this forum are more technically inclined and smell BS in stories with so little sumpstance like this one.

 

[tetris42]

As they say, shit or get off the pot. Bloomberg needs to bring more evidence to the table.
Curious - anyone buy any Supermicro stock? I thought about picking some up, but decided not to.

If Bloomberg did fabricate this story or if they posted it without seeing proper proof and evidence, doesn't that make them liable for damages? This could have been someone short selling and manipulating the Super Micro stock.

The paper doesn't need to provide proof necessarily. If a source is confidential and shows the proof to the reporter, giving details on it could possibly compromise their position.

Bloomberg is only liable for damages if the story is FALSE. If it's TRUE, they can publish the story all day long. That's what libel laws are about. Bloomberg doesn't have to provide evidence unless they get brought to court.

I don't know who is telling the truth, but there are obvious courses of action either way:

If Bloomberg is lying: Apple can threaten a lawsuit and demand a retraction immediately. If they don't, then they sue them for libel, win, the end.
If Bloomberg is telling the truth: Apple can lie to the public and claim Bloomberg is lying, knowing full well they aren't, demand a retraction, but take no legal action because of course they know they won't win because the story is true. They can feign outrage and lie all day, as long as they don't press charges.

If Bloomberg issues a retraction, then the story was probably fabricated. If Apple complains publicly, but never presses any charges, the story was probably true.

 

[Deleted member 243478]

gee, sounds like some california fruit company could lose a lot of $$$ if it happened to be that their products were compromised.

Do you guys think before you post or does blind Apple hate drop IQ’s? Apple cut off Supermicro 2 years ago over security issues, they dont even use their hardware anymore.