Nvidia hackers target Samsung, leak 190GB of confidential source codes for biometric, other critical systems

Continuing its cyberattacks, hacker group Lapsus$ has now targeted Samsung to leak several critical source codes for its applications and devices. It is not known if the hacker group has contacted for a ransom as yet.

Hackers responsible for leaking confidential information from Nvidia have now targeted Samsung. Named Lapsus$, the hacking group has allegedly stolen 190GB worth of data from the South Korean tech giant, which involves encryption and source codes for many of Samsung's new devices.

The attack on Samsung took place on Saturday, wherein the hackers leaked the confidential data obtained through an attack on Samsung and published the same on torrent. In a note posted to their followers, as seen by Bleeping Computer, the hackers shared the entire data in three parts, along with a text file that describes the content available in the download.

The note reveals that the leaked data includes "source code from every Trusted Applet" installed on every Samsung device. In addition, it carries "confidential source code from Qualcomm," algorithms for "all biometric unlock operations" which are used to unlock a device, bootloader source code for the devices, as well as the source codes for Samsung’s activation servers and Samsung account authentications, including APIs and services.

In short, the critical data compromised through the Lapsus$ attack targets Samsung Github: mobile defense engineering, Samsung account backend, Samsung pass backend/frontend, and SES which includes Bixby, Smartthings, and store.

The attack on Samsung comes right after the hacker group targeted Nvidia in a ransom plot. Compromising around 1TB of confidential data of the chipmaker, the hackers have likely managed to gain access to a staggering 71,000 employee emails and hashes, as per Have I Been Pwned, the website that notes the emails compromised in any attack.

The data ransom incident still hangs in the loom, as the Lapsus$ hacking group has put up monumental demands for Nvidia to match. Interestingly, it is not a straight-up ask for cash. Instead, the hackers have demanded Nvidia to remove the limit it has put on its Nvidia 30-series GPUs against Ethereum cryptocurrency mining. The hackers want Nvidia to open-source its GPU drivers forever.

Not that the hackers don't already have a cure for the nerf. They clearly seek cash from the leaked data too, as indicated by updates. One such promised to sell anyone a bypass for the crypto nerf on Nvidia GPUs for $1 million. As reported by The Verge, another message by the group suggested that they are also looking to sell the leaked data directly to a buyer instead of making it public.