A Chinese industry body recently accused Intel of back comprising Chinese national security with its processors. Specifically, it is accusing the chipmaker of purposefully installing vulnerabilities into their products, allowing the US National Security Agency (NSA).
The group, known as the Cybersecurity Association of China (CSAC), made a lengthy post on its WeChat account, describing in some detail about the alleged numerous vulnerabilities and how “major defects in product quality and security management show its extremely irresponsible attitude towards customers”. As mentioned, it is accusing the company of embedding a backdoor in “almost all’ of its processors since 2008, all part of a “next generation security defense system” developed by the NSA.
Intel has, unsurprisingly, denied and refuted all these claims of subterfuge, saying that it has always prioritised product safety and quality. Further, and as pointed out by Reuters, CSAC is a group that has seemingly close ties to the Chinese state. That being said, its raising a point on state security could ultimately trigger a security review from the Cyberspace Administration of China.
It should be noted that the claim also comes after the White House accused Chinese spies of having burrowed their way into US networks and critical infrastructure systems, all of which China has denied. The group we refer to is, of course, Salt Typhoon.
China accounts for 27% of Intel’s total revenue, which was recorded as US$54.2 billion (~RM233 billion) in 2023. This recent issue does add another notch to the blue chipmaker’s already weathered stick: it is already struggling disappointing revenue, falling market share and the inevitable layoffs that are expected to be announced by this month.
(Source: The Register, Reuters, Techspot)
