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Acer Reportedly Hit With $50M Crypto-Ransomware Demand
Acer hasn't yet confirmed the attack, reports Tech Radar.
Taiwanese tech giant Acer may have fallen victim to a malware attack demanding the biggest cyber-ransom ever.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
- Ransomware gang “REvil” is said to be demanding $50 million in the privacy coin monero to decrypt Acer computers, according to a Tech Radar report Monday.
- Sleuthing by an intelligence analyst from Malwarebytes and cyber news site The Record is said to have uncovered a REvil portal with details of the demands.
- The attack, not yet confirmed by Acer, is said to have locked up the firm's back-office network, but not its production systems, per the report.
- In screenshots posted on the portal, REvil called the Acer representative they were communicating with an “incompetent negotiator,” asking for their superiors to be brought into the negotiations.
- The gang has reportedly set a deadline of March 28 for its demands to be met.
- Monero is a privacy-focused coin that is designed to be more difficult to trace than other cryptocurrencies. It has recently been delisted by multiple exchanges because of its opaqueness and association with dark web activities.
- Acer is the world's fifth-largest computer maker, with almost 6% of global PC sales in Q4 2020, according to the latest Gartner data.
- CoinDesk reached out to Acer for comment, but did not receive a response by press time.
Read more: Kia Motors America Victim of Ransomware Attack Demanding $20M in Bitcoin, Report Claims
Tanzeel Akhtar
Tanzeel Akhtar has contributed to The Wall Street Journal, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Forbes Africa, Financial Times, The Street, Citywire, Investing.com, Euromoney, Yahoo! Finance, Benzinga, Kitco News, African Business Magazine, Hedge Week, Campden Family Office, Modern Investor, Spear's Wealth Management Magazine, Global Investor, ETF.com, ETF Stream, CIO UK, Funds Global Asia, Portfolio Institutional, Interactive Investor, Bitcoin Magazine, CryptoNews.com, Bitcoin.com, The Local, The Next Web, Mining Journal, Money Marketing, Marketing Week and more. Tanzeel trained as a foreign correspondent at the University of Helsinki, Finland and newspaper journalist at the University of Central Lancashire, UK. She holds a BA (Honours) in English Literature from the Manchester Metropolitan University, UK and completed a semester abroad as an ERASMUS student at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece. She is NCTJ Qualified - Media Law, Public Administration and passed the Shorthand 100WPM with distinction. She does not currently hold value in any digital currencies or projects.
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Crypto Industry Asks President Trump to Stop JPMorgan’s 'Punitive Tax' on Data Access
A coalition of fintech and crypto trade groups is urging the White House to defend open banking and stop JPMorgan from charging fees to access customer data.
What to know:
- Ten major fintech and crypto trade associations have urged President Trump to stop big banks from imposing fees that could hinder innovation and competition.
- JPMorgan's plan to charge for access to consumer banking data may debank millions and threaten the adoption of stablecoins and self-custody wallets.
- The CFPB's open banking rule, which mandates free consumer access to bank data, is under threat as banks have sued to block it, and the CFPB has requested its vacatur.
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