Acer has reportedly been the victim of a massive ransomware attack, with hackers asking for $ 50 million to release the company’s stolen data, Bleep computer reported on Friday. Nonetheless, the company has not publicly confirmed the attack, vaguely saying that “companies like us are under constant attack.”
According to Bleeping Computer, the attack was carried out by the hacker group REvil who announced on its data breach site that it had breached Acer. As evidence, the group shared images of the alleged files they had stolen, including financial spreadsheets, bank balances, and bank communications. IIf true, this would be the biggest ransom attempt ever demanded. The highest ransom attempt in 2020 to date used to be $ 30 million, ZDNet reported.
REvil is the same group associated with the Travelex attack in 2020 Reports from the time said the group had asked for a $ 6 million ransom. Ultimately, the company would have paid the REvil group about $ 2.3 million value of bitcoin.
Gizmodo contacted Acer to confirm the report and ask for comment. The company has not acknowledged whether or not it has been the victim of an attack. It did acknowledge that it had reported recent “abnormal situations” to the authorities.
“Acer routinely checks its IT systems and most cyber attacks are well defended. Companies like us are under constant attack and we have reported recent abnormalities to relevant law enforcement and data protection authorities in multiple countries, ”said Acer. “We have continuously improved our cybersecurity infrastructure to protect business continuity and our information integrity.”
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Acer added that it urged businesses and organizations to adhere to cybersecurity best practices and to “be vigilant of anomalies in network activity.”
Bleeping Computer reported it, as well as the French outlet LeMagIT discovered the ransomware sample REvil used in the Acer attack. The outlet also analyzed the ransom note and convA conversation with the hackers, who, according to Bleeping Computer, confirm that the attack was on Acer. Hackers have Reportedly Acer was given until March 28 to pay the ransom.
Some experts told the outlet that the breach could be related to a Microsoft Exchange server on Acer’s domain, recently targeted by REvil hackers. It is not clear whether the hackers use it Vulnerabilities in Microsoft Exchange unveiled earlier this month, Early estimates put some 30,000 American organizations at risk.
Nonetheless, the number of entities compromised could be much greater worldwide, and some reports say there is at least 60,000 known victims Worldwide.