Apple supplier Quanta Computer suffered from a ransomware attack targeting its systems, with the company being asked to pay a massive $50 million ransom. The cyberattack was disclosed on the day Apple was slated to announce its range of new products at its Spring Loaded event last April 20, 2021.
Quanta is an original design manufacturer (ODM) based in Taiwan. It manufactures a slew of Apple products, such as the Apple MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and the Apple Watch. In addition to providing its services to Apple, it also counts companies and brands such as Alienware, Cisco, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, and Microsoft as some of its clients, notes Bleeping Computer.
The ransomware attack stemmed from a ransomware gang named REvil. According to Forbes, the cybercrime gang gained unauthorized access to blueprints for new MacBook Pro products as well as the new Apple Watch.
Apart from the aforementioned blueprints, Forbes reveals that REvil also obtained other confidential documents that came from other brands and companies.
Following the attack, REvil said warned Quanta Computer that it had until April 27, 2021, to pay, or $100 million after the countdown, unless it wanted “drawings of all Apple devices and all personal data of employees and customers will be published with subsequent sale.” However, Bleeping Computer said that the Taiwan-based original design manufacturer will not be cooperating with the attackers.
With the ODM company refusing to keep its lines open for communication with the ransomware gang, Bleeping Computer said that the attackers moved on to extorting money from the tech giant, with the hackers initially giving Apple until May 1, 2021 to pay the $50 million ransom.
Despite being threatened by the ransomware gang REvil, Reuters said that Quanta Computer announced Wednesday, April 22, 2021, that it does not expect its business to suffer from any material impact from the recent incident. It had already alerted relevant authorities, such as law enforcement and data protection agencies, about the incident.
In addition to alerting and working with the authorities, Quanta had secured its systems. Bloomberg also revealed that the company is currently in the works of enhancing its cybersecurity infrastructure.
With no signs of Quanta Computer or the tech giant giving in to paying the ransom, Bloomberg states that the REvil has taken to posting files and images that detailed a MacBook design. As of writing, the threat actors have posted around 15 images in total.
Apple has yet to make a statement on the issue.
