Graphics card maker Nvidia have been dealing with a cyber attack on their systems for a few days now that has compromised Nvidia’s systems. In a twist of fate, the ransomware group that claimed responsibility for the attack has now been hacked itself.
Nvidia recently reported a cyber attack that left its development tools and email systems “completely compromised.” The company is still investigating the attack with not much information released about it so far. This isn’t the first time something like this has happened to Nvidia since GeForce Now data was leaked last year, but it’s still worrying. situation.
The ransomware group that calls itself “Lapsus” has claimed responsibility for the attack. Lapsus has posted screenshots and threatened to release proprietary source code and catalog entries if Nvidia doesn’t pay. In the wake of this, Lapsus has now experienced its own ransomware attack which they blame on Nvidia, as if the company has done it in retaliation. It has not been confirmed or denied that Nvidia was behind the hack.
After data leaked from GeForce Now, such as Sony AAA game titles that may be involved, this type of attack is something unfortunately familiar to Nvidia and the tech industry at large. However, it is very rare to see ransomware hackers claiming responsibility for cyber attacks get a taste of their own medicine.
For some, it might be oddly satisfying to hear about a case of a ransomware group already holding a large company to ransom after a cyber attack hacked itself. Hackers are very destructive in both the gaming and technology worlds, even causing a site like Koei Tecmo’s to shut down in the middle of their own attack. Groups like this can do things that sometimes even the most effective security can’t anticipate.
Nvidia has been focused on launching its new GTX 40 series GPUs, so the possible use of hacking as a countermeasure to protect data may not be out of the question, although it is indeed out of character. However, the company will no doubt stoop to Lapsus’ level if Nvidia had actually hacked the ransomware group as a countermeasure. It’s unlikely that it did, but cyberattacks hackers can sometimes lead to even worse retaliation from said hackers like fighting fire with fire and starting an all-out war. The fact that Lapsus even found a way to get into Nvidia’s systems, a company big enough to have a ton of cybersecurity in place, means it’s unprecedented what it can do to make things worse for the company and its employees. That said, Lapsus probably came from a mile away after launching this attack, so this isn’t completely unjustified.
Source: PC Gamer
