Samsung has confirmed that elements of the Galaxy source code was stolen by hackers, but says no customer data has been compromised in the process.
In a statement to Bloomberg, the Korean electronics giant admitted a cyber security breach, which led to a hacking group posting a 190GB torrent file to a Telegram channel just prior to the weekend.
The hacking group dubbed LAPSUS$, which claimed responsibility for the attack, said the massive file contained boot loader source code for recent devices, as well as biometric security information. Naturally, that had some security-conscious Galaxy owners justifiably worried.
However, Samsung says its initial analysis shows the data theft will not affect customers. It also claimed to have bolstered security to prevent a repeat of the incident. The company did not confirm the identity of the hackers, who also claimed to have performed a similar hack on Nvidia recently.
“There was a security breach relating to certain internal company data,” a Samsung representative said in the statement. “According to our initial analysis, the breach involves some source code relating to the operation of Galaxy devices, but does not include the personal information of our consumers or employees. Currently, we do not anticipate any impact to our business or customers. We have implemented measures to prevent further such incidents and will continue to serve our customers without disruption.”
The hacking group had also attempted to extort Nvidia during a recent hack. It promised to leak the data unless the chipmaker removed limits on cryptocurrency mining on its GPUs. Samsung hasn’t revealed whether it was subject to any such conditions.
Trusted Reviews has contacted Samsung’s representatives with further questions on the hack. We will update this story if a response is forthcoming.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
