Chip manufacturer Intel is investigating a serious data leak after 20GB of internal documents were made public online, some of which are marked as confidential.
The leaked dataset is said to contain intellectual property relating to various Intel chipsets and could also reveal backdoors that could be used in future attacks.
The data was uploaded to file-sharing service MEGA by software engineer Till Kottmann, who administers a Telegram channel dedicated to hosting data lifted from technology companies. Earlier this year, Kottmann leaked source code owned by the likes of Microsoft, Adobe, Lenovo, AMD, Qualcomm and more.
The software engineer told ZDNet he was sent the files by an anonymous hacker, who claimed to have exploited an unsecured Intel server hosted on the Akamai content delivery network.
According to the hacker, zip files hosted on the server were protected with rudimentary passwords such as “Intel123” or “intel123”.
Intel disputes this account, however, and claims the breach was the action of an individual with privileged access to the web portal the company uses to share information with business partners.
“We are investigating this situation. The information appears to come from the Intel Resource and Design Center, which hosts information for use by our customers, partners and other external parties who have registered for access. We believe an individual with access downloaded and shared this data,” reads a statement published by the firm.
According to Kottmann, the initial breach is just the tip of the iceberg – the first of a series of Intel leaks on the horizon.
