AMD revealed that a hacker has stolen files possibly related to the Xbox Series X’s GPU (among other products) and is now holding them for ransom.
“In December 2019, we were contacted by someone who claimed to have test files related to a subset of our current and future graphics products, some of which were recently posted online, but have since been taken down,” reads a statement from AMD. “While we are aware the perpetrator has additional files that have not been made public, we believe the stolen graphics IP is not core to the competitiveness or security of our graphics products. We are not aware of the perpetrator possessing any other AMD IP. We are working closely with law enforcement officials and other experts as a part of an ongoing criminal investigation.”
As indicated in that statement, some of the stolen files in question were uploaded to GitHub before AMD issued a copyright claim and had them taken down (though a new, similar post from the hacker was recently uploaded to that site). It was there that the hacker (who went by the name…sigh…”xxXsoullessXxx”) indicated that AMD could end this by sending a payment of $100 million. The hacker then threatened to release the files in full if nobody paid for them.
Tom’s Hardware said it’s been in contact with the hacker, who revealed that the files had been hacked remotely. A second Github repository included images of the stolen zip files that allegedly include source code for AMD Navi 10, Navi 21, and Arden GPU. As we noted in our breakdown of the PS5 vs. the Xbox Series X, the Arden is rumored to either be the basis of the Xbox Series X’s 12 teraflop GPU or simply the GPU that will ship with the console.