Intel hacked: Confidential intellectual data obtained and leaked by anonymous hacker

It seems that Intel has just been hacked, and 20GB worth of its confidential files and intellectual property are now making its way around the Internet. 

According to Tom’s Hardware, a leaker has shared the link to a 20GB file-sharing folder that allegedly contains chip engineering files apparently stolen from Intel earlier this year in a Twitter post. This folder has been billed as “Intel exconfidential Lake Platform Release ;)” and was originally posted on messaging platform Telegram.

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The leaker notes that many of the files in the folder “have NOT been published ANYWHERE before and are classified as confidential, under NDA or Intel Restricted Secret." in addition, it’s been revealed that the password-protected zips in the folder may be accessed using either "Intel123" or "intel123" as the password, which may have been set by Intel itself.

Intel believes that the leak may have “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.”

Files, source codes, backdoors and more

We haven’t verified the folder’s content ourselves. However, our colleagues at Tom’s Hardware have confirmed the existence of said folder. They’ve also shared a list of document titles, which match some of the information shared by the leaker, including:

• Intel ME Bringup guides + (flash) tooling + samples for various platforms
• Kabylake (Purley Platform) BIOS Reference Code and Sample Code + Initialization code (some of it as exported git repos with full history)
• Intel CEFDK (Consumer Electronics Firmware Development Kit (Bootloader stuff)) SOURCES
• Silicon / FSP source code packages for various platforms
• Various Intel Development and Debugging Tools
• Simics Simulation for Rocket Lake S and potentially other platforms
• Various roadmaps and other documents
• Binaries for Camera drivers Intel made for SpaceX
• Schematics, Docs, Tools + Firmware for the unreleased Tiger Lake platform
• (very horrible) Kabylake FDK training videos
• Intel Trace Hub + decoder files for various Intel ME versions
• Elkhart Lake Silicon Reference and Platform Sample Code
• Some Verilog stuff for various Xeon Platforms, unsure what it is exactly.
• Debug BIOS/TXE builds for various Platforms
• Bootguard SDK (encrypted zip)
• Intel Snowridge / Snowfish Process Simulator ADK
• Various schematics
• Intel Marketing Material Templates (InDesign)

That’s not all. The folder also likely contains 'backdoors' in some of the Intel source code, with the hacker’s original post encouraging downloaders to look for them by giving a sample clip of one such listing.

This year hasn’t been good to all of us. However, if this leaked folder does contain such data and isn’t contained soon, Intel might soon be joining the long line of hardest hit companies in 2020. Especially because the hacker has already threatened to release “even juicier and more classified stuff.”

Luckily, it looks like Intel's already on the case. “We are investigating this situation,” the company said when we reached out for comment.

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