US senators seek clarification from Supermicro about hack

Two US senators have sought clarification from Supermicro over claims about the Chinese government’s integration of a chip on the manufacturer’s motherboards. Supermicro denies the claims, but the senators still want answers to questions.

The two senators, one from Democrats and the other from Republicans, want to know when they became aware of the claims and what research they had done to support their denial, according to Supermicro’s Business Insider. Business Insider has put the letter online in its entirety. The senators think the questions are important because if the claims are correct it would have far-reaching consequences.

Financial news agency Bloomberg published last week based on several years of research and claims from many sources that the Chinese government had placed chips on Supermicro server motherboards. Subsequently, those servers would have been located at large companies such as Amazon and Apple. US and British government agencies, among others, say they have no doubts about the denials of Amazon, Apple and Supermicro. Norwegian security authority Nasjonal Sikkerhetsmyndighet says otherwise, claiming it identified a problem with Supermicro servers in June.

It is unknown if and when Supermicro will respond to the senators’ questions. It is the first political reaction after the story was published last Thursday.