Russian hackers have hit Apple with a $50 million USD ransom demand after stealing a huge cache of schematics from one of its suppliers.
Hacking group REvil – also known as Sodinokibi – took the documents on current and future Apple products, including the recently-announced iMac redesign, from Taiwanese company Quanta, which manufactures devices for the tech giant.
It initially demanded $50 million USD from Quanta, then began releasing images from the trove starting April 20, to coincide with Apple’s Spring Loaded event. The group is now demanding $50 million from Apple itself by May 1, and says it will keep posting images every day until Apple pays up.
In a statement reported by Bloomberg, Quanta acknowledged the attacks on a “small number” of its servers.
“We’ve reported to and kept seamless communications with the relevant law enforcement and data protection authorities concerning recent abnormal activities observed. There’s no material impact on the company’s business operation,” the company said.
The leaked documents also include an as-yet-unrevealed Apple laptop with extra ports, which seems to confirm rumours of a 2021 MacBook Pro refresh.
