Microchip Technology

History

2024

Losses of $21.4 million due to ransomware virus attack

In early November 2024, the American company Microchip Technology reported losses of $21.4 million due to a cyberattack using ransomware viruses that occurred in August.

Initially, the attack was revealed when the semiconductor manufacturer discovered suspicious activity on its network. The invasion caused disruption to some of Microchip's manufacturing facilities. In response to the intrusion, Microchip isolated the affected systems and some systems were shut down. Outside cybersecurity consultants were called in to assist in the investigation.

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microchip.com

About a week after the incident, a group of Play hackers claimed responsibility for the attack, claiming to have stolen gigabytes of data. Later, the attackers published part of the files stolen from the company, so it is assumed that Microchip refused to pay the ransom.

The hackers published a 4 GB archive file on the darknet, allegedly containing Microchip data. They argue that other stolen data includes personal data, client documents and files related to budget calculations, accounting, contracts, taxes and the financial condition of the company, as well as containing wage data.

In early September 2024, after restoring most of its activities, Microchip confirmed that attackers had stolen sensitive data from the company's IT systems, including employee contact information and password hashes.

The company provided a financial statement for the second quarter of fiscal 2025, according to which the cost of all cybersecurity incidents as of September 30, 2024 is estimated at approximately $21.4 million. Most of them fall on the ransomware virus attack.^[1]

Shutdown of factories due to cyber attack

In mid-August 2024, the American chipmaker Microchip Technology fell victim to a cyber attack that affected the work of a number of the company's production facilities. It is known that on August 17, the company discovered suspicious activity in its IT systems, and on August 19 it revealed a number of violations in server service and business operations. In response to the cyber attack, Microchip isolated the affected systems, and turned off some of them completely, which led to a shutdown of the chipmaker's enterprises. The company has brought in external cybersecurity consultants to investigate.

Microchip Technology products are used by about 123,000 customers in the industrial, automotive, consumer, aerospace and defense sectors, as well as in the communications and computing sectors.

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Bloomberg

Due to the incident, some of the company's production facilities cannot maintain the usual level of productivity, which is why the company cannot fulfill all orders on time, Microchip management explained. - We are working hard to get IT systems back up and running, getting the business back up and running, and mitigating the impact of the incident.

According to the manufacturer, by August 21, 2024, it is not known whether the incident will have significant consequences. US regulators require companies to report any significant violations in connection with cyber attacks within four working days of the incident being detected, but it is not always easy to determine the consequences.

Microchip Technology did not share details, but it is assumed that the company's IT systems were attacked for ransom. Yet so far no prominent extortion group has claimed responsibility for hacking Microchip Technology. However, the incident is more recent and cybercriminals usually wait until talks fail or come to a standstill before sharing the victim's stolen data on their website.^[2]

2018: $8.35 billion Microsemi purchase

In early March 2018, Microchip Technology announced the purchase of Microsemi for $8.35 billion. Read more here.

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