ACER Hacked: Hacker Steals Documents From Company & Threatens To Sell To Highest Bidder

It has been confirmed by electronics company Acer that one of its internal servers has been accessed illegally by outside sources, reports Bleeping Computer. The individual that gained access is now preparing to sell 160 GB of data, which is being referred to as "confidential." The hacker has posted to a forum a listing of documents from the information pulled from the servers, which includes "655 directories and 2869 files."

The company states that the individual accessed the information from a "document server" utilized as a "repair technician resource." The information accessed seems much more valuable than documentation sitting in a resource for repair technicians. Bleeping Computer states the data acquired by the hacker was accessed last month.

Here is the current screenshot of the sales post on the unknown forum:

The assailant has quoted Acer Incorporated's Wikipedia information before listing a summary of file information acquired that includes:

The user also stated that more information was available but was unwilling to provide further details of the stolen files. Finally, the user declares that for payment of the information they are selling to whoever is ready to purchase such information, they will "only accept XMR." XMR is the short form for Monero cryptocurrency.

This morning, the current price of Monero is $151.89. As with any cryptocurrency, the pricing is rapidly subject to change as the crypto marketplace has a high level of volatility. Monero has declined $51.34 over the last year and $12.32 over the previous month. This last week has been better for Monero, as it has risen $0.80.

The hacker also will not sell outright to one individual and requests that the sale is completed with a middleman present. Acer has reported that they are looking into the data breach from their documentation server, and it is speculated that no consumer data was acquired.

With Acer being one of the top computer manufacturers worldwide, being fifth in the Top 5, they have had a history of previous attacks due to their current stature in the marketplace. In 2021, the company was attacked twice, once in March and in October, where the latter date saw 60 GB of data removed from their systems. The company was also reported to have paid upwards of $50 million to a group of ransomware hackers threatening to leak the information acquired to the public.

News Sources: Tom's Hardware, Bleeping Computer