A hacker group called REvil, also known as Sodinokibi, claims to have the blueprints for Apple’s next products. Having infiltrated the computers of Quanta Computer Inc, one of Apple’s suppliers, they have obtained plans and prototypes of what will be Apple’s next MacBook. They are asking for $50 million in exchange for not publishing the information.
REvil hacker group claims to have prototypes of Apple’s latest MacBooks
Taiwan-based Quanta Computer Inc. is one of Apple’s suppliers when it comes to manufacturing mainly MacBook laptops. As such, it has access to confidential information and blueprints with technical details of what to manufacture. If REvil has indeed infiltrated and obtained those plans, it essentially knows what and how Apple’s next products are going to look like.
In REvil’s blog on the Dark Web, they have made the news public. They usually announce there what their latest attacks are and what they are asking for in return. In this case, it has been Apple’s turn. They say that they first tried to persuade Quanta Computer Inc. to pay a ransom, since they have expressed no interest in doing so to recover the stolen data, they are going straight for Apple now.
Quanta Computer Inc. does not deny the attack, they say they suffered a cyber attack on some of their servers. Of course, they have not acknowledged that data was stolen or what kind of data it was.
Hacker group will leak daily until ransom is paid
Right after Apple’s presentation two days ago, REvil publicly announced their extortion of Apple. To that end, they published a total of 15 images of blueprints of the 2021 MacBook. They have asked Apple to pay the indicated sum before the 1st of May. Until that date arrives, the hackers will continue to post new images on their blog daily, they said.
The images released so far appear to be accurate. Specific and detailed parts of the MacBook appear, as well as specific components and serial numbers. One of the images even features the signature of Apple designer John Andreadis, dated March 9, 2021.
In one of the alleged conversations between the hacker group and Quanta, they indicate that they have stolen and encrypted “all the data on the local network” of Quanta. It is unclear whether this is entirely true or how far it raises the severity. We will see in the coming days if Apple decides to make a statement or if it all remains a failed attempt to extort money from one of the largest and richest companies on the planet.
