Online kidnappers threaten to reveal Nexperia business secrets

[Foto: Bacho/Shutterstock.com]

Nexperia has been hacked by cyber criminals. They threaten to publish the digital crown jewels if a ransom is not paid. This is evident from research by RTL News. The chip company from Nijmegen confirms the hack but does not provide any explanation because the investigation by Fox-IT is still in full swing.

According to RTL News the loot consists of hundreds of gigabytes of sensitive material, such as trade secrets, chip designs and customer data from SpaceX, Apple and Huawei, among others. Nexperia produces computer chips used in telephones, refrigerators, vacuum cleaners and cars. The news channel states that the hackers behind the attack are part of the Dunghill group, a relatively new cybercriminal group that has recently claimed dozens of victims.

It is interesting that Nexperia is in Chinese hands and China is seen as the country that poses the most cyber threat. The company from Waalstad is a spin-off from NXP, the chip manufacturer where Chinese hackers with ties to the Chinese State tried to steal chip designs for more than two years. Chip machine manufacturer ASML also fell victim to Chinese espionage.

Chinese ownership

Nexperia was acquired by the Chinese Wingtech Technologies in 2019. In November last year, the company received the green light from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy for the acquisition of Delft-based Nowi Energie, which is developing a chip for the extraction of energy from light, heat or WiFi signals. The ministry does not object to the Chinese owner having access to this promising technology because it would not be used for military purposes.

The British are less naive. Nexperia was told last year by the British Department of Economic Affairs that the Newport Wafer Fab in South Wales had to be largely sold for national security reasons. That chip factory, the largest in the United Kingdom, only makes simple chips. Nexperia strongly denies that the chips from Wales can be used for military purposes.

Germany also has objections to Chinese ownership of Nexperia. German Minister Habeck successfully opposed the inclusion of Nexperia in the generous support program with which the European Commission wants to make the EU less dependent on semiconductors from other parts of the world.