DHS and UK's NCSC say they have “no reason to doubt” statements from Apple, Amazon, and others rejecting Bloomberg's story on China spying via microchips
DHS says no reason to doubt firms' China hack denials https://reut.rs/2ynLr0f Glenn Fleishman / @glennf : I'm baffled by this. The technical bits in the article seemed not quite right to my ear, but I'm trying to imagine how this could have gone editorially wrong given the scope across time and sources. Nobody on the record, but that's not unprecedented. Nicole Perlroth / @nicoleperlroth : It's my worst nightmare as a reporter, but I was also baffled after the Bloomberg NSA/Heartbleed story in 2014. That was also anonymously sourced and when I tried to match it, I could not find one single person who would corroborate even on deep background. Nicole Perlroth / @nicoleperlroth : Something is wrong. Blanket denials from companies, NCSC and DHS are v. unusual. The only precedent for this is a 2014 Bloomberg article, by the same author, which claimed NSA exploited Heartbleed, and was vigorously knocked down with zero follow up by Bloomberg or correction. https://twitter.com/... Zack Whittaker / @zackwhittaker : @elongreen Elon, I don't know. I wrote some analysis Friday that kinda plays this out on both sides. But this DHS denial really does seem to weigh against Bloomberg because DHS benefits from Bloomberg being *right*. http://techcrunch.com/... Zack Whittaker / @zackwhittaker : Plot twist. In a statement, Homeland Security says it has “no reason to doubt” statements by Apple, Amazon et al rebuffing Bloomberg's story on the “spy chip” story — effectively saying that the report was wrong. https://www.dhs.gov/... Iang / @iang_fc : Bloomberg doubles down with yet another article attacking Supermicro http://www.bloomberg.com/... Denials from all. At this stage, ONLY source is anonymous unconfirmable intelligence reports. Cui bono?
Context & Ripple Effects
Bloomberg Businessweek's spy chip story has unraveled in stages over four days: Amazon, Apple, Supermicro, and the Chinese government all issued statements disputing the allegations last week, and by the weekend TechCrunch was reporting that other national-security reporters could not match the anonymously sourced claims. Today's development raises the stakes — DHS and the UK's NCSC, the two governments best positioned to know, both say they have no reason to doubt the companies' denials.
The arc matters because it moves the story from 'companies deny everything' to 'officials side with the companies.' The next day's coverage compounds it: hardware security expert Joe Fitzpatrick, a named source in Bloomberg's own investigation, publicly casts doubt on the story's accuracy.
First-order effects
- Bloomberg faces mounting pressure to produce on-record corroboration, with DHS, the NCSC, Apple, Amazon, Supermicro, and one of its own named sources now all on the record against the story.
- Supermicro's server customers get official cover to treat the allegations as unproven, easing immediate pressure to audit or replace hardware.
Second-order effects
- Rival newsrooms' inability to match the reporting — Nicole Perlroth describes failing to find a single confirming source after trying — pushes security desks toward stricter standards for anonymously sourced hardware-supply-chain scoops.
- Apple and Amazon emerge with their supply-chain integrity claims reinforced by two Western security agencies, a reputational win they can cite against future sourcing-based allegations.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, major national-security exclusions will increasingly be tested within days by coordinated corporate denials plus government statements, raising the evidentiary bar for stories that rely entirely on unnamed sources.
- Hardware supply-chain security stays on the agenda regardless of this story's fate — but verification may shift toward on-record agency confirmation rather than single-outlet anonymous sourcing.
The trend: National-security scoops built on anonymous sourcing are meeting faster, coordinated institutional pushback as affected companies and government agencies respond publicly within days.