Following the theft of a cache of engineering and manufacturing schematics of current and potential products from Quanta, a Taiwan-based company that produces MacBooks and other Apple products, Apple has been targeted in a $50 million ransomware assault.
The leak, which was first recorded by The Record, was carried out by REvil, a Russian hacking group known as Sodinokibi. After Quanta refused to pay the $50 million ransom for the data, the group began uploading the stolen images on April 20th, timed specifically to coincide with Apple’s new “Spring Loaded” case. The group is now trying to get Apple to pay up by May 1st and has promised to keep posting new photos from the leak daily before it does.
In a statement to Bloomberg, Quanta acknowledged that its servers had been compromised, saying, “Quanta Computer’s information security team has collaborated with external IT experts in response to cyberattacks on a limited number of Quanta servers.” Quanta also claims that the hack has had “no material effect on the company’s business activity.”
According to Bleeping Computer, REvil has a history of similar ransomware attacks, with the group also carrying out similar hacks on Acer and other companies in recent months. However, the Quanta attack is the group’s most high-profile goal to date due to its links to Apple and the potential to expose unannounced Apple hardware.
The company has not yet explained the scope of the leak; however, photos released by REvil so far include schematics for Apple’s recently unveiled iMac redesign — which had not previously been seen by anyone outside of Apple’s sphere of influence, adding credence to the possibility that the documents are authentic. The schematics also contain warnings on nearly every page that state, “This is the property of Apple and it must be returned,” as well as a prohibition on reproducing, copying, or publishing the papers.
Manufacturing diagrams for Apple’s already-released 2020 M1 MacBook Air refresh and an as-yet-unreleased laptop with additional ports in line with current reports for Apple’s upcoming laptop refresh are also included in the leaked data.
These documents were stolen and are now being released in an attempt to extort Apple and Quanta. We assume it would be immoral to report extensively on their contents due to the existence of their roots. We’ve reached out to Apple for comment and will update this article if we learn anything new.
Following the theft of a cache of engineering and manufacturing schematics of current and potential products from Quanta, a Taiwan-based company that produces MacBooks and other Apple products, Apple has been targeted in a $50 million ransomware assault.
The leak, which was first recorded by The Record, was carried out by REvil, a Russian hacking group known as Sodinokibi. After Quanta refused to pay the $50 million ransom for the data, the group began uploading the stolen images on April 20th, timed specifically to coincide with Apple’s new “Spring Loaded” case. The group is now trying to get Apple to pay up by May 1st and has promised to keep posting new photos from the leak daily before it does.
In a statement to Bloomberg, Quanta acknowledged that its servers had been compromised, saying, “Quanta Computer’s information security team has collaborated with external IT experts in response to cyberattacks on a limited number of Quanta servers.” Quanta also claims that the hack has had “no material effect on the company’s business activity.”
According to Bleeping Computer, REvil has a history of similar ransomware attacks, with the group also carrying out similar hacks on Acer and other companies in recent months. However, the Quanta attack is the group’s most high-profile goal to date due to its links to Apple and the potential to expose unannounced Apple hardware.
The company has not yet explained the scope of the leak. However, photos released by REvil so far include schematics for Apple’s recently unveiled iMac redesign — which had not previously been seen by anyone outside of Apple’s sphere of influence, adding credence to the possibility that the documents are authentic. The schematics also contain warnings on nearly every page that state, “This is the property of Apple and it must be returned,” as well as a prohibition on reproducing, copying, or publishing the papers.
Manufacturing diagrams for Apple’s already-released 2020 M1 MacBook Air refresh and an as-yet-unreleased laptop with additional ports in line with current reports for Apple’s upcoming laptop refresh are also included the leaked data.
These documents were stolen and are now being released in an attempt to extort Apple and Quanta. We assume it would be immoral to report extensively on their contents due to the existence of their roots. We’ve reached out to Apple for comment and will update this article if we learn anything new.