Hardware manufacturer MSI admits that it was recently the victim of a cyber attack. The perpetrators claim to have made off with 1.5 TB of sensitive data.

The Taiwanese company confirmed the news of the cyber attack in a press release. The official statement was structured according to the rules of technology: as soon as the suspicious activity became known, the attackers were immediately reported online and the company informed all the necessary authorities. Of course, the company also promises to protect the data of customers and trading partners as best as possible.

According to MSI, the affected services would be back online soon. However, it is highly recommended to download firmware/BIOS updates from the official website only and not to use files from sources other than the official website. In fact, this indication always counts whether the attackers managed to capture data, and if so, which ones, we do not find it in the press release.

1.5 TB of data stolen

BleepingComputer then scoured the dark web and tracked down the alleged perpetrators. The hacker group Money Message is claiming the attack, claiming to have stolen no less than 1.5 TB of data. It threatens to leak this data if MSI doesn’t pay the required $4 million fine within five days.

According to the hacker group, this is information that MSI’s competitors would like to get their hands on, including source codes, frameworks for developing BIOS, and private keys for signing modules. The hackers also approached MSI employees to put pressure on them. There is currently insufficient information available to verify Money Message’s claims.

We expect more information about the cyber attack on MSI to be leaked in the coming days. We’ll continue to monitor the situation and update this article when we know more.