LAPSUS$, a hacking group, that attacked Nvidia servers last month is selling software that can potentially unlock crypto mining hash rate limiters on the company’s graphics cards.
It claims to have retrieved a terabyte of data from Nvidia servers. The South American group is offering the software in the form of a customized driver. This, it claims, unlocks limiters Nvidia has placed on its high-end graphics cards.
Nvidia highlighted that it is aware that the hackers took employee credentials and the company’s proprietary information from the systems. The group is leaking all these online. The company revealed that the cybercriminal group is trying to extort Nvidia through a Telegram channel. The hackers, as per various reports, are offering to bypass limits on Nvidia’s RTX 3000 series graphics cards. This will enable higher hash rates for Ethereum mining.
Screenshots from the group’s channel were revealed by PCMag on March 1. It highlighted that the leak exposes the source code and highly confidential data from various parts of the Nvidia GPU driver, Falcon, LHR, and more. LHR is the Lite Hash Rate. It is the limiter that Nvidia launched to de-tune its GPUs in 2021 in an effort to deter crypto miners from snapping them up.
Furthermore, the hacking group is trying to hold the company for ransom. One of its demands includes removing the limiter from all RTX 3000 series cards and making drivers open-source. Nvidia has a deadline of March 4 to make a decision.
