Hackers steal over 20GB of confidential design data from Intel in massive data breach

Over 20GB of confidential design data and files were stolen from Intel in a security breach (Image source: Panda Security)

Days after Canon, Intel is the next major company to face a massive data breach. Over 20GB of confidential design data including SDKs, flash tools, marketing templates, debug tools, and more were stolen and subsequently leaked online.

Arjun Krishna Lal, 08/07/2020

Intel was recently hit by a major security breach in which over 20GB of confidential data was compromised and then leaked online. The stolen data includes debugging tools, flash tools, various design templates, marketing materials, and even training videos. In a statement to Tom's Hardware, Intel said the following:

“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."

The statement strongly indicates that the data breach could have been due to an inside threat actor with access to Intel Resource and Design Center resources. The files in question are reportedly marked as either under NDA or as “Intel Restricted Secret.” The company has not released them to the general public. We strongly advise against searching for and/or downloading the leaked data, since this would contravene intellectual property law.

The anonymous leaker promised that further files would be leaked in time. It remains to be seen if this is the case.