Taiwanese electronic gadgets and computer manufacturer, Acer has been hit by a ransomware attack where the cybercriminals are charging $50 million, the highest observed ransom to date. The hacker group has given Acer time until 28th March to pay the ransom else it will distribute the data it claims to have accessed.
The statement further said that a group identified as ‘REvil’ was responsible for the attack on Acer. The very group is assumed to be responsible for the previous year’s ransomware attack on Travelex, a London-based foreign currency exchange firm.
“Acer routinely monitors its IT systems, and most cyberattacks are well defended. Companies like us are constantly under attack, and we have reported recent abnormal situations observed to the relevant law enforcement and data protection authorities in multiple countries.” – Acer.
The company further stated that it has been constantly improving its cybersecurity infrastructure to secure business continuation and integrity. They have also advised other companies and corporations to include cybersecurity regulations in their businesses and be aware of any network activity abnormalities.
The report further records that the hackers also granted a discount of 20% if the firm cleared the amount by Wednesday. In return, attackers would provide the company a decryptor, a vulnerability report, and remove the stolen files. During the discussion between Acer officials and the hacker group, the said criminals also advised the firm to not to replicate the outcome of SolarWind.
Some specialists reported to the outlet that the breach could be associated with the Microsoft Exchange server on Acer’s domain, which the REvil hackers recently targeted. However, it is not confirmed yet that if the hackers have misused the Microsoft Exchange security vulnerabilities announced earlier this month, which as per the primary calculations has compromised around 30,000 U.S. organizations.
Read more: Zero-Day vulnerabilities in Microsoft Exchange Server continue to be exploited by Chinese Hackers
Source: Bleeping Computer
