Amazon And Super Micro Call For Spy Chip Story Retraction
You may recall how a little over a month ago Bloomberg broke a story that many computers at Amazon, Apple and Super Micro had been infected with a spy chip. The chip said to be of Chinese origin, was reportedly used with as many as 30 companies which potentially allowed their security to be compromised.
With companies such as Amazon and Apple affected consumers were concerned. Additionally, with Super Micro’s manufacturing base, the spread was also a matter of more than a little worry.
It seems, however, that the story was, at the very least, very exaggerated. Following on from Apple last week, in a report via The Verge, Amazon and Super Micro have now both issued statements. Both of which urge Bloomberg to retract their initial story as inaccurate, misleading and lacking any foundation.
@tim_cook is right. Bloomberg story is wrong about Amazon, too. They offered no proof, story kept changing, and showed no interest in our answers unless we could validate their theories. Reporters got played or took liberties. Bloomberg should retract. https://t.co/RZzuUt9fBM
— Andy Jassy (@ajassy) October 22, 2018
No Evidence!
Since the report initially came out (from 17 unnamed sources) there has yet to be a single case of one of the ‘spy chips’ being discovered. In addition, both UK and US security agencies have both said they have found nothing to support the claims made. As such, this puts Bloomberg under rather a lot of pressure. We should note that they are not required to retract it. From a standpoint of journalistic integrity (don’t laugh!) they should either back it up or, at the very least, quietly remove it.
Given the hysteria that came with this, it’s probably the smart move for Bloomberg to just agree. They can say what they want. What is clear, however, is that the initial report, at the very least, has been massively overstated.
What do you think? Should Bloomberg remove the story? Has it been overstated? – Let us know in the comments!
