A ransomware group has demanded that Apple pay a ransom for MacBook schematics it claims to have stolen.
The group, known as REvil, consisting of a group of hackers, claimed that they stole Apple’s blueprint, threatening to publish the documents if Apple refuses to pay an amount of $50 million.
The Record reports that members of the group said they stole the Apple product blueprint from a Taiwanese company named Quanta. This company is an Apple supplier.
The hackers posted on an online forum, where hackers are fond of using, claiming that they have approached Apple because Quanta refused to pay the $50 million ransom. Why the ransomware group didn’t approach Apple first is not known.
Already, the group has posted product schematics for Macbooks and the Apple Watch. Even multiple outlets have seen these schematics and have reported on them. The biggest drawback is proving that these schematics are authentic. If the $50 million ransom request isn’t met, The Record said the group would continue to post more data every day.
According to The Record and Bloomberg, the ransomware group gives Apple up to May 1 as a deadline for the payment to be made. The Record source stated the following:
Our team is negotiating large quantities of confidential drawings and gigabytes of personal data with several major brands… We recommend that Apple buy back the available data by May 1.
In return, Apple said that it is “looking into the incident.” The company has not given details regarding what it knows or whether it will yield to the hackers’ demands.
However, Quanta, a large manufacturer of Macbooks, seems to confirm to Bloomberg that its security system had been breached.