An Nvidia cyber-attack has seen the US chip designer call in law enforcement and cyber security experts to investigate a hack that saw employee login details leaked online.

Confirmation that an attack took place follows a report by The Telegraph on Friday that a two-day hack had occured, knocking off some of Nvidia’s internal systems.

Over the weekend, ransomware group Lapsus$ claimed responsibility for the hack, saying it had acquired Nvidia employees’ passwords.

Lapsus$ – which claims it is not state sponsored – has said that it has also released secret internal and promised further leaks.

As well as calling in police, microchip giant Nvidia has hired cybersecurity company Mandate to investigate the incident.

In a statement, the company said: “On February 23, 2022, Nvidia became aware of a cybersecurity incident which impacted IT resources. Shortly after discovering the incident, we further hardened our network, engaged cybersecurity incident response experts, and notified law enforcement.

“We have no evidence of ransomware being deployed on the Nvidia environment or that this is related to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. However, we are aware that the threat actor took employee credentials and some Nvidia proprietary information from our systems and has begun leaking it online.”

The company has also stated that it doesn’t anticipate the attack to cause any disruption to business operations.

Although it’s claimed the Nvidia cyber-attack is not related to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, many companies are on high-alert at being caught up as collateral damage through cyber-attacks as a result of the invasion.

In response, the National Cyber Security Centre NCSC, has updated its guidance to UK companies and organisations.

Among the advice given to organisations, the NCSC says groups should patch their systems, ensuring that they are up to date and any known vulnerabilities are removed.

Recommended

• Filament STAC adds to company cohort at Scottish IoT accelerator
• Gigged.AI to fund digital projects for SMEs
• PneumoWave wearable device aims to cut Scottish opioid deaths

Organisations should also improve their access controls and enable multi-factor authentication as a further precaution, as well as implement an effective incident response plan. It is important to ensure online defences are working as expected.

Checking that backups and restore mechanisms are working is also essential, to minimise the effect of any attack.

Finally, organisations should keep up to date with the latest threat and mitigation information. If hit by a cyber-attack, organisations should report the incident to the NCSC’s 24/7 Incident Management team.

Get the latest news from DIGIT direct to your inbox

Our newsletter covers the latest technology and IT news from Scotland and beyond, as well as in-depth features and exclusive interviews with leading figures and rising stars.

To subscribe, click here.