The microchip hack | Supermicro
An alleged unit of the Chinese military reportedly made microprocessors smaller than a pencil and used them to steal US trade secrets and technology.
Some of the microprocessors had memory, networking and processing capability capable of a major attack. The microchips were embedded in the motherboards of China’s Supermicro.
The “tampered” motherboards contained in servers made by Supermicro and the sabotaged servers reached the data centres of dozens of companies. When the server opened, the microchip changed its operating system kernel to make it modify-able. It communicated with computers controlled by hackers, who were looking for information and passwords.
According to Bloomberg, data centres run by Apple and Amazon Web Services have been found to be surveilled. Authorities in the US opened a secret investigation into the case in 2015.
In the wake of recent events, Supermicro saw its shares plunge on the Nasdaq. This created strong pressure in Asian markets today, forcing even Chinese tech companies with their shares down as much as 23% in Hong Kong to take a hit.
Apple, Amazon Web Services and Supermicro categorically reject the alleged information.
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Author: PC-GR
The World of Technology
