Cybercriminals have published the design for Apple’s upcoming MacBook Pro refresh online following a successful ransomware attack on one of the company’s biggest suppliers.
Quanta Computer is a Taiwan-based ODM laptop manufacturer that recently confirmed it servers had suffered a cyberattack. In a statement to Bloomberg, a company spokesperson acknowledged the attack, saying:
“Quanta Computer’s information security team has worked with external IT experts in response to cyber attacks on a small number of Quanta servers. 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.”
While Quanta did not go into details regarding the attack itself as an investigation is still underway, the ransomware gang REvil has taken responsibility and is in the process of “negotiating the sale” of data stolen in the attack “with several major brands”, according to The Register.
Quanta ransomware attack
The REvil ransomware group has shared additional details on its “Happy Blog” which it uses to name and shame its victims. In a post on its blog, the group claimed that it deployed ransomware on Quanta’s servers and was able to obtain confidential blueprints for upcoming Apple products.
So far REvil has published some of the blueprints it has acquired including one for an unreleased MacBook dated March 2021 and as the company’s last business laptop was released in November of last year, the design could be for an upcoming device.
The ransomware group has demanded that Quanta pay it 123,028 Monero ($50m) to delete the files it has stolen and decrypt the company’s locked systems. This is because cybercriminals have begun to move away from demanding their ransoms in Bitcoin in favor of Monero as it is much harder to track.
Earlier this year REvil deployed ransomware on another Taiwanese hardware maker’s networks when it hacked Acer. At the time, the group also asked for $50m in cryptocurrency to decrypt Acer’s files with the threat that it would increase the ransom to $100m if the company refused to agree to its terms.
While REvil has acquired Apple’s blueprints and confidential data, it is still unclear as to whether or not it also obtained documents for Quanta’s other clients which include HP, Facebook and Google among others.
Via The Register
