AMD, in an official statement, has shared that back in December last year, a hacker got access to test files related to the company’s current and future graphics products. Some of these test files or source codes have been leaked online but the company has taken strict action to take them down. It states that the hacker has additional files as well. The person who claims to have hacked the source code spoke with a publication and said that the files are related to AMD’s upcoming products, including the Arden GPU rumoured to be present in the Xbox Series X.
In its statement, AMD says that the additional files that the hacker got access to have not yet been posted online and that they are not “core to the competitiveness or security” of its graphics products. “We are working closely with law enforcement officials and other experts as a part of an ongoing criminal investigation,” the company adds.
Before AMD put out its statement, a person claiming to be the hacker spoke with TorrentFreak and claimed that AMD Navi GPU hardware source codes were found in November 2019 from a hacked computer. The hacker stated that the computer/server in question was unprotected and not encrypted with anything. “The source code was unexpectedly achieved from an unprotected computer//server through some exploits. I later found out about the files inside it. They weren’t even protected properly or even encrypted with anything which is just sad,” the hacker said.
Talking about the stolen content, the hacker revealed that it contained source codes for Navi 10 and Navi 21 devices, as well as the source for the Xbox Series X GPU ‘Arden’. The alleged GPU in the upcoming console by Microsoft was previously leaked online and reported by Eurogamer.
On the one hand AMD states the stolen files are not detrimental to the competitiveness or security or its product. On the other, TorrentFreak points out that at least two Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) notices against Microsoft-owned GitHub have been filed by AMD. GitHub is where the stolen source code was being hosted and the repositories have since been taken down.
The hacker also shared, “I haven’t spoken to AMD about it because I am pretty sure that instead of accepting their mistake and moving on, they will try to sue me. So why not just leak it to everyone?” The hacker claimed that the value of the source code is $100 million. Threatening to leak everything if there was no buyer for the source code, the hacker pointed out that the files will have passwords that will only be given to select individuals.