Company queried on report of hacking by Chinese

Two U.S. senators sent a letter to Super Micro Computer Inc. asking if and when the company found evidence of tampering with hardware components after a Bloomberg Businessweek report described how China’s intelligence services used subcontractors to plant malicious chips in the company’s server motherboards.

Florida Republican Marco Rubio and Connecticut Democrat Richard Blumenthal on Tuesday gave the company until Oct. 17 to respond to a list of questions that also includes whether the company investigated its supply chain and cooperated with U.S. law enforcement.

In Bloomberg Businessweek’s report, one official said investigators found that the Chinese infiltration through Super Micro reached almost 30 companies, including Amazon and Apple. Super Micro and both Amazon and Apple disputed the findings. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said it has “no reason to doubt” the companies’ denials of Bloomberg Businessweek’s reporting.

“We are alarmed about the dangers posed by backdoors, and take any claimed threat to the nation’s networks and supply chain seriously,” the lawmakers said in the letter. “These new allegations require thorough answers and urgent investigation for customers, law enforcement and Congress.”

Cybersecurity is becoming an increasingly important topic of congressional investigation following concerns about foreign actors compromising election security and technology infrastructure. Among the targets of the Chinese hack identified by Bloomberg was a contractor that made software to help funnel drone footage to the Central Intelligence Agency and communicate with the International Space Station.

The infiltration of the computer systems, which stemmed from servers assembled by Super Micro, was investigated as part of an FBI counterintelligence probe, according to the Bloomberg Businessweek report, which cited national security officials familiar with the matter.

Investigators found that tiny microchips, not much bigger than a grain of rice, had been inserted during manufacturing in China onto equipment made by subcontractors of Super Micro. The San Jose, Calif.-based company is one of the world’s biggest suppliers of server motherboards, the fibermounted clusters of chips and capacitors that act as neurons of data centers.

Investigators determined that the chips allowed the attackers to create a stealth doorway into any network that included the altered machines, according to the report, citing people familiar with the matter.

In emailed statements, Amazon, Apple and Super Micro disputed Bloomberg Businessweek’s reporting. In an emailed statement, the Chinese government said in part “we hope parties make less gratuitous accusations and suspicions but conduct more constructive talk and collaboration.”