Chinese Spy Chips Stealing U.S. Data

A recent report by Bloomberg sheds light on the huge problem that is troubling US citizens as well as the U.S. military, U.S. intelligence agencies, and of course, U.S. businesses. According to Bloomberg, spy chips the size of a grain of rice started showing up in server motherboards used by U.S. agencies and almost 30 American companies. The culprit, they say…China. The method? Spy chips inserted during manufacturing in China. The goal? Help the Chinese government spy on American companies and US government agencies.

Boomberg’s report chronicles the three-year-long and top-secret investigation by the U.S. It discovered how the Chinese government went about infiltrating the supply chain that ultimately placed spy chips into servers making their way to the U.S. Oddly enough, if it weren’t for Amazon’s due diligence before buying Elemental Technologies, a company that sold servers to U.S. national security departments, the spy chips may have never been found. Although the company has denied it, the report stated that Apple also backed-up Amazon’s claims with their own findings.

The servers that Elemental sold were built by Super Micro Computer Inc. (aka Supermicro), a California-based company. Supermicro subcontracted server production to China, where the investigation found operatives from the China People’s Liberation Army inserted spy chips during the manufacturing process. It’s a complicated trail, but once Amazon contacted U.S. authorities, the investigation started into what is described by U.S. officials as “the most significant supply chain attack known to have been carried out against American companies,” Bloomberg reports.

The spy chips are referred to as a hardware hack, which provides longevity to the continuing amount of stolen information that’s acquired. It’s a long-term investment in spying by China, that had it gone undetected, would supply countless years of sensitive data to their government. Again, according to Bloomberg, a U.S. government official says, “China’s goal was long-term access to high-value corporate secrets and sensitive government networks.”

It’s worth noting that Amazon, Apple, and Supermicro all dispute Bloomberg article findings about their involvement. Regarding the depth of the spy chip infiltration, Bloomberg claims public documents show the Elemental severs are “used inside Department of Defense data centers…on Navy warships…inside government buildings…and NASA, both houses of Congress, and the Department of Homeland Security have also been customers.” It may be no surprise that China, it seems, is committed to making cyber-espionage a dedicated weapon against the U.S.