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October 8, 2018


The Honorable John Thune The Honorable Greg Walden
Chairman Chairman
Committee on Commerce, Science Committee on Energy
and Transportation and Commerce
512 Dirksen Senate Building 2125 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510 Washington, D.C. 20515

The Honorable Ben Nelson The Honorable Frank Pallone


Ranking Member Ranking Member
Committee on Commerce, Science Committee on Energy
and Transportation and Commerce
512 Dirksen Senate Building 2125 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510 Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Chairmen and Ranking Members:

In light of your important leadership roles in Congress, we want to assure you that a
recent report in Bloomberg Businessweek alleging the compromise of our servers is not
true. You should know that Bloomberg provided us with no evidence to substantiate
their claims and our internal investigations concluded their claims were simply wrong.

We are eager to share the facts in this matter because, were this story true, it would
rightly raise grave concerns. A compromise of this magnitude, and the effective
deployment of malicious chips like the one described by Bloomberg, would represent a
serious threat to the security of systems at Apple and elsewhere. That’s why, ever since
we were first contacted by Bloomberg’s reporters in October 2017, we have worked
diligently to get to the bottom of their allegations.

While the story was being reported, we spoke with Bloomberg’s reporters and editors
and answered any and all of their questions. We methodically dispelled the often-
shifting nature of their claims. While we repeatedly asked them to share specific details
about the alleged malicious chips that they seemed certain existed, they were unwilling
or unable to provide anything more than vague secondhand accounts.

We were struck by the fact that the gravity and magnitude of the claims seemed to be
undermined by their uncertainty around key details. Nevertheless, we worked tirelessly

Apple
One Apple Park Way
Cupertino, CA 95014

T 408 996-1010
F 408 996-0275
www.apple.com

to ascertain whether these claims were true or, failing that, if anything even like them
were true.

In the end, our internal investigations directly contradict every consequential assertion
made in the article—some of which, we note, were based on a single anonymous
source.

Apple has never found malicious chips, “hardware manipulations” or vulnerabilities


purposely planted in any server. We never alerted the FBI to any security concerns like
those described in the article, nor has the FBI ever contacted us about such an
investigation.

On Saturday night, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security joined the U.K.’s
National Cyber Security Centre in saying they have no reason to doubt the statements
we’ve made.

Our frustration is animated by the fact that we share your rightful focus on cybersecurity
and the integrity of the global supply chain. We understand that, though this story only
relates to our enterprise hardware, Americans are justly concerned about how supply
chain security affects the consumer products they use every day. Concern for supply
chain security is absolutely central to the way we run our business.

If any of the reported details cited above were true, we would have every interest—
economic, regulatory, and ethical—to be forthcoming about it. We hold ourselves to the
highest standard in the products we create and the data we safeguard, and to help
address any concerns you may have, I would like to offer a brief summary of the supply
chain protocols we follow to protect ourselves and our customers.

With respect to the information systems we use, we purposely work with multiple
vendors, and our infrastructure is very diverse, protected by multiple layers of security.
We deploy both commercially available and Apple proprietary security tools, led by an
experienced security team that is familiar with diverse threats, simple and sophisticated.

We apply rigorous and ongoing diligence to vendors. Before we begin a relationship,


vendors are submitted to a review process which can incorporate, depending on the
criticality of the services offered, a layers-deep study of the security infrastructure of the
vendor in question. The hardware incorporated into our environment is also placed in

Apple
One Apple Park Way
Cupertino, CA 95014

T 408 996-1010
F 408 996-0275
www.apple.com
the scope of Apple’s Vulnerability Management Program which makes these products

subject to ongoing vulnerability scans, patching, and security reviews.

In the situation Bloomberg describes, the so-called compromised servers were allegedly
making outbound connections. Apple’s proprietary security tools are continuously
scanning for precisely this kind of outbound traffic, as it indicates the existence of
malware or other malicious activity. Nothing was ever found.

I understand that these topics are of particular interest to your committees. I will be
available to brief your staff this week to further address the information we’ve offered
here.

Today, individuals, communities, and nations depend on the security and integrity of our
shared technological infrastructure. We at Apple hold this responsibility sacrosanct, and
we will continue to dedicate intense focus on keeping ahead of the hackers,
cybercriminals, and even nation states that hope to steal data and harm user faith in the
potential of technology to build a better world.

Sincerely,

George Stathakopoulos
Vice President, Information Security

Apple
One Apple Park Way
Cupertino, CA 95014

T 408 996-1010
F 408 996-0275
www.apple.com

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