Opening Bell: 10.4.18

The Big Hack: How China Used a Tiny Chip to Infiltrate U.S. Companies [Bloomberg]
Nested on the servers’ motherboards, the testers found a tiny microchip, not much bigger than a grain of rice, that wasn’t part of the boards’ original design. Amazon reported the discovery to U.S. authorities, sending a shudder through the intelligence community. Elemental’s servers could be found in Department of Defense data centers, the CIA’s drone operations, and the onboard networks of Navy warships. And Elemental was just one of hundreds of Supermicro customers.
During the ensuing top-secret probe, which remains open more than three years later, investigators determined that the chips allowed the attackers to create a stealth doorway into any network that included the altered machines. Multiple people familiar with the matter say investigators found that the chips had been inserted at factories run by manufacturing subcontractors in China.

White House Sends F.B.I. Interviews on Kavanaugh to Senate [NYT]
“The White House has received the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s supplemental background investigation into Judge Kavanaugh, and it is being transmitted to the Senate,” Raj Shah, a White House spokesman, said in the statement, which was posted on Twitter.
“This is the last addition to the most comprehensive review of a Supreme Court nominee in history, which includes extensive hearings, multiple committee interviews, over 1,200 questions for the record and over a half million pages of documents,” he added. “With this additional information, the White House is fully confident the Senate will vote to confirm Judge Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.”

Danske Bank Under Criminal Investigation by U.S. Justice Department [WSJ]
The Justice Department has been requesting information from Danske Bank regarding its Estonian branch, the bank said in a statement. Danske Bank has said it suspects employees at that branch actively helped thousands of clients circumvent money laundering controls over a nine-year-period.
On Thursday, the bank also canceled a share buyback program, after Danish authorities ordered it to build up capital in case of a pending fine or financial trouble. The Justice Department has the power to fine foreign banks—often hundreds of millions of dollars—for money laundering violations, in addition to similar fines the bank could face in Denmark or elsewhere.

Exclusive: Third Point demands Campbell Soup board records [Reuters]
Third Point’s move offers an example of the legal tools shareholder activists are increasingly using to boost their chances of winning proxy contests against corporate boards.
Such maneuvering could prove crucial in this case, given Third Point, which owns 5.65 percent of the canned soup maker, faces challenges in wooing some key shareholders. Descendants of former Campbell Soup Chairman John Dorrance own a combined 42 percent stake in the company, representing a major hurdle.

GM tops Tesla in ranking of automated driving systems [CNBC]
Consumer Reports tested four of the most popular systems and says Cadillac's Super Cruise does the best job of ensuring the vehicle is driven safely while making sure the driver pays attention when they take their hands off the steering wheel.
"Super Cruise has a camera that looks at the driver's eyes and warns them if they look away for too long or fall asleep and that's a game changer," said Jake Fisher, director of Auto Testing at Consumer Reports.

Russian billionaire claims Sotheby’s conned him out of $1B [NY Post]
Two entities owned by billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev brought their civil case to a Manhattan federal court late on Tuesday, accusing the New York auction house of helping a Swiss art dealer con Rybolovlev out of $1 billion.
The dealer, Yves Bouvier, orchestrated Rybolovlev’s purchase of 38 masterworks in 37 transactions (two Picassos were purchased in a single deal) between 2003 and 2015.
The suit claims Bouvier pretended to negotiate with sellers of the masterworks on behalf of Rybolovlev — only to strike secret deals to buy them himself.