Samsung hack allegedly leaked the confidential source code and the biometric unlock algorithm of the South Korean tech giant, the data extortion group, Lapsus$, claimed.
A person walks behind a Samsung logo displayed outside the company's Seocho building in Seoul on January 27, 2022. (Photo by ANTHONY WALLACE / AFP)
Samsung Hack
As per a news story by Bleeping Computer, Lapsus$ said that it leaked up to 190 GB of Samsung data and source code online after hacking the systems of the South Korea-based tech firm.
The extortion gang initially posted a teaser, saying that it would be leaking data from Samsung, wherein Lapsus$ attached a screenshot of the code of the software of the tech giant.
Samsung Biometric Unlock Algorithm, Confidential Source Code
After the initial teaser, the extortion group went on to release a description, which outlines what data of Samsung that has been allegedly breached.
Lapsus$ said that the description of the leak included the "confidential Samsung source code," which the extortion group claims to be from the breach.
To be more precise, the Samsung hack allegedly contained the source code for the Trusted Applet of the TrustZone environment of the tech giant, which they use for access control, hardware cryptography, and binary encryption.
A woman walks past a logo of Samsung Electronics at its showroom in Seoul on January 7, 2010. South Korea's Samsung Electronics said it expects to post an estimated 3.3 billion dollars profit for the fourth quarter to December last year. AFP PHOTO/JUNG YEON-JE
On top of that, the breach also reportedly included confidential source code from the American tech firm, Qualcomm, which supplies chipsets for the smartphones of Samsung.
The hack also allegedly included the source code of the bootloader app for all of the new Samsung devices, as well as the source code for the activation services of the tech giant.
In addition, the extortion gang also claimed that the massive Samsung hack also contained the full source code for the authorization and authentication tech of the tech giant for its accounts.
What's more, the hackers also claimed that they have the algorithms that Samsung is using for all of its biometric unlock features.
Bleeping Computer added in the same report that the extortion gang, Lapsus$, which were also the ones behind the recent Nvidia hack, has already leaked all of these in a 190 GB compressed file.
The massive leaked data of Samsung has been compressed into three files, which are currently available for download via torrent.
The news outlet also noted that the torrent of the hacked data itself is highly popular with numerous downloads already.
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Samsung Hackers and Ransom
As of writing, Lapsus$ has yet to announce if it has ever asked the South Korean tech giant for any ransom before leaking its data.
It is worth noting that the hacking group has asked Nvidia for an unusual ransom following its data breach, according to a recent report by The Verge.
The Lapsus$ group has specifically asked Nvidia to open source its GPU drivers. On top of that, the hackers also wanted the tech giant to remove the crypto mining nerf for its 30-series GPUs.
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Written by Teejay Boris
