Computer maker Acer has confirmed that it has been hacked.
Security Week quotes an Acer spokesperson Stating that recently unauthorized access has been detected on a company document server used by repair technicians. Acer said there is currently no indication that any consumer data was stored on that server.
the statement came later Quoted by news site Hacked Read A threat actor calling itself “kernelware” is offering to sell 160GB of data including 655 directories and 2,869 files stolen last month.
According to the news story, the allegedly stolen documents include confidential slides and presentations, technical manuals, Windows Imaging Format files, various types of binaries, backend infrastructure data, and product model documentation.
The allegedly stolen data also includes replacement digital product keys, ISO files, Windows System Deployment Image files, BIOS components, and ROM files.
Headquartered in Taiwan, Acer manufactures a wide range of computing products, including Windows laptops, desktops, Chromebooks, Android tablets and monitors. It has 7,500 employees worldwide. In January, it announced that annual revenue in 2022 was as high as C$12 billion.
“Not all data breaches involving personal information about customers or employees, or financial information like credit cards, need to be a concern,” said Erich Kron, security awareness advocate nobi4, “Acer in this case is potentially looking at the release of some of its intellectual property and potentially sensitive company documents. The organization spends a great deal of time and money developing proprietary processes and procedures as well as technical information about its products.” In the highly competitive world of electronics and technology, this information can be very valuable to competitors, and technical information can be very valuable to bad actors seeking to exploit that target victims’ products.
