Questions remain 3 months after story on China's alleged Big Hack

When a major exclusive breaks, other media usually chase the story. But what if it remains unreported on or what if other media outlets are unable to replicate the findings?

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Bloomberg Businessweek spent more than a year reporting on an alleged breach of US computer infrastructure by China - a hardware hack supposedly affecting Apple, Amazon, Supermicro and nearly 30 other companies. That story was published on Oct 4 under the headline "The Big Hack: How China Used a Tiny Chip to Infiltrate US Companies". More than three months later, reporting on the story continues.

An e-mail obtained by The Washington Post shows that Mr Jordan Robertson, who wrote the story with Mr Michael Riley, recently contacted a former Apple employee with a request: "I'm a reporter with Bloomberg Businessweek in Washington. You likely saw a story we published in October about Chinese manipulation of Supermicro server hardware at companies including Apple, Amazon and others.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on January 22, 2019, with the headline Questions remain 3 months after story on China's alleged Big Hack. Subscribe