The National Cyber Security Centre, part of the UK intelligence and security organisation, GCHQ, has stuck its oar into the Apple and Amazon cybersecurity row.
It said it had no reason to doubt Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Apple Inc’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) assertions that they had not been caught up in a cybersecurity attack perpetrated, according to news Bloomberg, by Chinese espionage agencies.
READ Apple and Amazon refute Bloomberg allegations of hardware hack by Chinese spies
Bloomberg ran a long piece this week in which it alleged that hardware produced by Super Micro Inc (NASDAQ:SMCI), one of the world’s biggest suppliers of motherboards for computer servers, included microscopic microchips that could compromise network security.
It claimed that almost 30 US companies, among them Amazon and Apple, had used the modified motherboards at some point but the tech giants were not slow to refute Bloomberg’s claims.
The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) said it had no reason “at this stage” to doubt the detailed assessments made by Amazon and Apple.
“The NCSC engages confidentially with security researchers and urges anybody with credible intelligence about these reports to contact us,” the eavesdropping agency said.
The NCSC seems more concerned about Russian attacks rather than Chinese. Yesterday, it released a bulletin in which it accused the GRU, the Russian military intelligence service, of “indiscriminate and reckless cyber attacks targeting political institutions, businesses, media and sport”.
The NCSC asserted that a number of cyber actors widely known to have been conducting cyber attacks around the world are, in fact, the GRU.
“These attacks have been conducted in flagrant violation of international law, have affected citizens in a large number of countries, including Russia, and have cost national economies millions of pounds,” the agency said.