Malicious attacks remain one of the most difficult challenges to address, and it is that this same week Acer announced that it had been the victim of a new robbery in which a 160 GB database had been found compromised. A very complicated situation, since we remember that the company has suffered several attacks by cybercriminals in recent years, quite serious.
Despite the Situations experienced with the Ransomware Revil and DISORDER groupIt seems that Acer was going through a quiet period. However, everything has changed this week because, despite all the security measures, the hackers seem to have overcome all the barriers. Therefore, now a database that contained private documents is for sale at this very moment.
How did Acer find out about this theft?
Surprisingly, Acer was aware that it had been robbed when on Monday, March 6, a user shared on BreachForums that it was allegedly the author of this action and that he now had several private documents that he intended to sell. At first, this aroused many suspicions. However, some data was shared that left no room for doubt.
For example, the user in question took several screenshots so that people who did not believe him would have proof of what he had done. This has also helped him confirm that what he wants to do with all the stolen information is to transfer it to a third party, although the only payment he will accept will be in a very specific cryptocurrency: Monero. After these events, Acer has confirmed what happened.
We do not know what actions the company will take, because the user is identified. In fact, in the BreachForums itself exposes your username: Kernelware. Therefore, this is a possible thread to pull from in order to, perhaps, take action. Although, the priority continues to be to improve security to prevent this type of situation from occurring again.
The documents that have been stolen from Acer add up to 160 GB
Based on the data provided by the BreachForums user, it appears that the total amount of information you now have in your possession adds up to 160 GB. between her there is 655 directories and 2869 confidential files, as well as digital product keys. This is a very significant amount of documents that Acer has now lost and is in the hands of a person with no good intentions.
Among all of them there are also manuals made for workers that allow them to solve, without having to waste too much time, certain technical problems that they could encounter. Now they no longer have them, which can be a major inconvenience that the company will have to solve in the shortest possible time.
The interest in the theft of data from large companies such as Acer usually has to do, in most cases, with the fact of being able to earn money (in this case, cryptocurrencies), blackmail or steal an identity. However, it can also be used to expose company vulnerabilities leaving an open door for other cybercriminals to attack it again.
As we already mentioned, Acer has been one of the companies most damaged by malicious attacks And this new coup has made it clear that even the best-prepared company can fall victim to hackers. Now, it will be necessary to continue working on the security measures, perfecting them as much as possible to discourage hackers from this type of action.
