The Bloomberg Businessweek survey found that in 2015 Chinese hackers launched the major supply chain attacks currently known to US companies by implanting microchips into data center servers in large corporations such as Amazon and Apple.
In addition to Amazon.com Inc. and Apple Inc. Nearly 30 companies were attacked, including a large bank and a number of US government contractors.
US officials say the hacker's goal is to tap sensitive trade secrets of companies and to provide national safety information stored on government computer networks.
A number of US officials who were aware of the investigation said that the invasion came from microchips implanted by the Chinese People's Liberation Army during the production process of the server. The US authorities followed these chips and found several supply companies that produced motherboards for Super Micro Computer Inc.
AMD, based in San Jose, California, was founded in 1993 and works closely with Chinese contractors. In 2015, it had more than 900 customers in 100 countries around the world and became a channel for invading a host of sensitive targets .
Long before US companies discovered evidence of hacking attacks, US intelligence officials reported that the Chinese spy has plans to introduce harmful microchips into the supply chain. US officials reported to the White House in the first half of 2014 that the investigation has found a breakthrough – the Chinese military is preparing to bring chips into the motherboards that the AMD sells to the United States.
Accidentally discovered Amazon server crashes in 2015. The people who tested on Amazon found a small microchip that was not much larger than a rice and was not part of the original design of the server.
The Amazon security team also discovered that its web service platform, Amazon Web Services, has been adapted in China. In the same year, Apple also found the installed chips in the corporate network.
Amazon, Apple and AMD have questioned Bloomberg Businessweek's summary. The weekly, however, said that the interview lasted more than a year and that more than 100 interviews were conducted. In total, 17 people confirmed that the hardware of the AMD computer was used and that other places were also attacked.
The wafers found in the ultra-microcomputer server are soldered onto the motherboard by a human machine on the busbar of the substrate management controller. The baseboard management controller forms a deliberate backdoor for the system, allowing administrators to log on to the server from a remote location, even a server that is down or down.
By connecting the chip to the baseboard management controller, the attacker can perform two important tasks, one to communicate with the unknown computer on the network to call home, and the other is to command a little bit of command. directly into the kernel of the operating system. And then adjust the kernel to accept further changes.
Via the implanted wafer, the hacker can infiltrate the most protected code in the server, thereby forging the operating system, so that all instructions issued by the chip are allowed.
The general server controls a storage area that is not attacked by viruses for future detection of the target network. Because the data center has thousands of identical servers, the hacker can set up a base in one of these servers and can assume that the long-term exploration task can be performed in the future, scan the target network configuration and then transfer the data. to the base camp of the hacker. The risk of catching is not high.
The ultimate goal of hackers is to find high-quality targets, such as network routers, switches and servers that can enter the network security zone.
Sources familiar with the US government investigation said the attack on ultra-micro computer hardware showed that the Chinese government allowed the spy to infiltrate the local factories and to change the computer hardware exported to the United States or other countries .
The report pointed out that the above methods are difficult and daring and that there is almost no organization to take the trouble to check if the computer hardware is passive.
(Translator: Chen Yijun, first source: shutterstock)
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