Apple Supplier Quanta Hit By $50M Ransomware Attack, Future MacBook Schematics Stolen
Apple is bringing some color into people's lives with a new line of M1-powered iMac systems, available in green, yellow, orange, pink, purple, blue, and silver. As to what other changes Apple plans on making to its product lines, a hacking group is threatening to reveal them, after infiltrating servers belonging to one of the company's main suppliers.
The hacking group goes by REvil, and it is the same one that recently breached Acer and stole files that included financial spreadsheets, bank balances, and bank communications, all of which it posted on its website called Happy Blog. The group is known for using ransomware in its attacks, and in the case of Acer, it had demanded $50 million.
REvil seems to like that figure, as it is the same amount the hacking group is demanding from Quanta. The folks at Bloomberg say they have seen a blog post on the dark web that was written by REvil, in which the group claims to have successfully breached Quanta's systems. While Apple was hosting its press event yesterday, REvil was posting more than a dozen images containing supposed schematics for a MacBook that has not yet launched.
The group resorted to posting the images after Quanta refused to pay its ransom demand. That's basically how REvil operates—after it hacks an organization and steals their files, it demands a ransom, and then posts the stolen data on its blog if a company doesn't pony up. In this case, REvil had been in communication with someone at Quanta in a chat room. The group relayed that it had stolen and encrypted "all local network data," and demanded $50 million for a decryption key.
Quanta acknowledged in a statement that it had in fact been hacked, saying it suffered attacks on a "small number" of servers and is working with IT experts on the matter.
"We’ve reported to and kept seamless communications with the relevant law enforcement and data protection authorities concerning recent abnormal activities observed. There’s no material impact on the company’s business operation," Quanta said.
After failing to extort a ransom from Quanta, the hacking group has turned its attention to Apple, with a May 1 deadline. From now until then, REvil says it will post additional files each day. We highly doubt Apple will pay, as it sets a bad precedent and only encourages future attacks. That said, it will be interesting to see what additional data gets revealed as a result of this attack.
