Someone has reportedly stolen the graphics source code for the upcoming Xbox Series X and is holding it for ransom. If the hacker does not receive their demanded price for the code, they are threatening to leak it in its entirety online.
News of the leak broke through the Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) website. The company, which creates computer processors and other, similar technologies, announced the hacking through a blog post.
AMD noted that it was contacted in late 2019 by “someone who claimed to have test files related to a subset of our current and future graphics products.” It also said some of the products had been posted online, but have since been removed. According to IGN, however, the data was copied to several “other repositories after the first set was taken down.” That means the code may still be floating around online.
A report from TorrentFreak claims that the stolen data was located on a hacked computer. TorrentFreak spoke to the alleged hacker, who claims the “source for the Xbox Series X GPU ‘Arden’ was part of the haul.”
The hacker is demanding $100 million for the code.
In what is likely the best confirmation of the report’s veracity, AMD has issued a DMCA takedown request for the location at which the stolen code was supposedly being held. A breach could spell real trouble for the console’s upcoming release—it is expected to hit shelves in November—but AMD assured consumers through its blog post that the breach was minor.
“The stolen graphics IP is not core to the competitiveness or security of our graphics products,” AMD claimed in the post. “We are not aware of the perpetrator possessing any other AMD IP.”
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H/T IGN