Acer experiences a data breach incident

Acer computers have experienced a cyber incident leading to a data breach. The Taiwan-based company is a leading manufacturer of computers, especially laptops. The reported claims of the hacker have been confirmed by Acer in a statement released to Register.

We look at the claims of the hacker and how it impacts Acer computers below.

Key points about the Acer data breach

• A forum user has claimed that he has accessed Acer’s confidential data. He has access to the company’s confidential data that surpasses 160 GB.

• The data breach has been orchestrated by a hacker that goes under the name ‘Kernelware’. The breach was reported by a user of a forum on 6th March 2023. The breach was executed during the month of February 2023.

• The breach has been confirmed by Acer today i.e. on 8th March 2023.

• The nature of the data breach is not clear. The hacker has claimed that the data is in 655 folders and 2869 files. The compromised data includes technical data and diagrams as well.

• As per the forum user who has offered the data on sale, the hacked data include confidential slides and presentations, technical manuals, Windows Imaging Format files, binaries of various types, backend infrastructure data, product model documentation, and information about phones, tablets, laptops, and other devices. BIOS and ROM files have also been breach as part of this cyber incident.

• Acer did not confirm the type of data that has been breached. However, it released a statement that reads hereunder:

We have recently detected an incident of unauthorized 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,” an Acer spokesperson confirmed in the statement.

• Acer claims no customer data was compromised as the hacked server did not have any consumer, private or payment data.

• Acer, seemingly, is in the middle of a full-scale investigation to uncover the breach. A full audit and investigation may confirm the exact magnitude of the data breach incident. At the same time, a cyber security audit may help Acer uncover the vulnerability or the exact loophole that caused the data breach.

It remains to be seen if the stolen data could be used to find more about the underlying technology being used by Acer in manufacturing computers. It is unclear if any patented or proprietary information has been leaked in this data breach.

It may be pertinent to mention over here that Acer has been a subject of cyber incidents involving data breaches in the past as well. In October 2021, Acer computers had suffered a data beach in which over 60 GB data was breached.

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