Nvidia hack: Company confirms stolen ‘proprietary information’ is being leaked, ransomware group claims to have DLSS source code

Nvidia is the latest major company targeted by a massive ransomware operation. The chipmaker confirmed the attackers have stolen "proprietary information" while claiming responsibility for the breach said they gained access to the DLSS source code.

The company initially confirmed last Friday that it was investigating "an incident" but maintained that it did not affect its operations. By Tuesday, more details about the hack had come to light, including Nvidia's confirmation that the hackers had stolen data from its networks.

"We are aware that the threat actor took employee credentials and some Nvidia proprietary information from our systems and has begun leaking it online," Nvidia said (via PCMag). "We do not anticipate any disruption to our business or our ability to serve our customers as a result of the incident," the company added.

Considering the timing of the breach, some speculated if the incident was somehow linked to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. But Nvidia has ruled out this speculation. Nvidia added that it has yet to find evidence that the hack was a ransomware attack.

However, the ransomware group Lapsus$ has since claimed responsibility for the attack and has been discussing the aftermath of the breach on their public Telegram channel over the weekend. While Nvidia did not specify which "proprietary information" was stolen, the hackers have reportedly sent TechPowerUp with screenshots allegedly showing a list of files containing the DLSS source code.

TechPowerUp said the file list they received "looks credible enough" and also included a "Programming Guide" that could be intended for developers making DLSS-supported games. The same report said the files were for "DLSS version 2.2," so it may contain updates to Nvidia's AI rendering technology.

It is still unclear what other sensitive company information was involved in the hack. Screenshots from the Lapsus$ Telegram channel showed the group claimed to have obtained 1TB worth of data.

On Saturday, updates from the Lapsus$ Telegram channel also showed that Nvidia was able to "hack back" the ransomware group. The group confirmed Nvidia "successfully encrypted the data" but maintained that they have a backup of the stolen files.

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