Given how the planet today revolves around data and digital files, it shouldn’t be a surprise how ransomware has become the most dangerous and rampant malware in recent years. From individual users to large corporations, everyone is often a victim, with larger entities promising the most important potential profits. That would be the case with Taiwan-based hardware manufacturer Gigabyte, whose latest cyberattack incident puts other tech giants also in danger.
Gigabyte admitted that it suffered a security intrusion that forced them to pack up many of its servers in Taiwan. This affected the company’s support site, where customers reported problems accessing the website and support documents and other critical pieces of data.
The company didn’t exactly call it a ransomware attack, but the knowledge that BleepingComputer acquired pointed exactly to it. More worryingly, the mastermind behind that attack is allegedly the RansomEXX gang, formerly referred to as Defray, an equivalent operation behind several high-profile cybersecurity incidents across the world. While many of the group’s victims are government-related agencies, it also attacks several private companies, with Gigabyte possibly the most important one.
This incident is more complicated for Gigabyte because the attackers claim to possess been ready to download 112GB worth of files. Those files include confidential material from partners like Intel, AMD, and American Megatrends. Instead of just expecting Gigabyte to pay the ransom to decrypt files, RansomEXX threatens to publish the stolen documents to pressure the corporate further.
Authorities naturally frown on companies rewarding criminal acts by paying the demanded sum, but Gigabyte wouldn’t be the primary to subside if it did. Most ransomware cyberattacks remain hidden behind closed doors, and therefore the public never understands whether ransoms were paid anyway. So naturally, Gigabyte has remained mum on the matter, especially since the incident also affects other tech giants’ secrets.
