Acer confirms data breach, 160GB worth of data being sold on hacker forum

Acer says the server breached was not used to store any customer data. — Photo by Raphael Brasileiro on Unsplash

Acer has confirmed a security breach on one of its internal servers, containing confidential company data meant for its repair technicians.

According to the company, the server in question was not used to store any customer data.

“We have recently detected an incident of unauthorised access to one of our document servers for repair technicians.

“While our investigation is ongoing, there is currently no indication that any consumer data was stored on that server,” said the company in a statement.

A post from March 6 on a hacker forum by the alleged attacker surfaced, which claimed to have 160GB of data from the leak with the intention to sell via a middleman to the highest bidder.

They go on to claim in the thread that the data included 655 directories and 2,869 files, with confidential slides and product documentation, staff manuals, back-end infrastructure, replacement digital product keys (RDPK), along with BIOS and operating system files.

The alleged hacker also posted screenshots of technical documentation of the Acer V206HQL monitor and other confidential documents.

Acer previously fell victim to the REvil ransomware in Feb 2021 that demanded a US$50mil (RM226mil) ransom.

It then suffered a security breach by hacker group Desorden later in October the same year which compromised 60GB's worth of customer, distributor and retailer data.

LifestyleTech has reached out to Acer for updates on investigation developments.