A ransomware group says it stole Apple product blueprints, and is demanding the tech giant pay $50 million to get them back

Apple CEO Tim Cook.

Karl Mondon/Digital First Media/The Mercury News via Getty Images

• A ransomware group is demanding Apple pay a ransom for Macbook schematics it claims to have stolen.
• The group, called REvil, initially targeted Apple supplier Quanta with the $50 million ransom demand.
• Its demand was timed to coincide with Apple's big Spring unveiling event.
• See more stories on Insider's business page.

A group of hackers claim to have stolen Apple blueprints, and say they will publish the documents unless the tech giant pays a huge ransom.

As originally reported by The Record, members of a ransomware group known as REvil say they stole Apple product blueprints from a Taiwanese company named Quanta, which is an Apple supplier.

Per The Record, REvil hackers posted on a dark-web forum that they approached Apple after Quanta refused to pay the ransom of $50 million.

REvil posted product schematics for what appeared to be Macbooks and the Apple Watch, as reviewed by multiple outlets - although it's impossible to verify whether they are authentic. According to the Record, the group threatened to post more data every day that its ransom wasn't met.

In messages reviewed by both The Record and Bloomberg, REvil has given Apple a May 1 deadline.

"Our team is negotiating the sale of large quantities of confidential drawings and gigabytes of personal data with several major brands ... We recommend that Apple buy back the available data by May 1," the group said, per The Record's reporting.

Apple told 9to5 Mac it was "looking into the incident" but did not offer further details.

Read more: A senior IT recruiter says cybersecurity professionals are in high demand. Here's his advice for breaking into the field without a degree and nabbing a 6-figure job.

Quanta is a large manufacturer of Macbooks, and appeared to confirm its security system had been breached in a statement to Bloomberg.

"Quanta Computer's information security team has worked with external IT experts in response to cyber attacks on a small number of Quanta servers," the company told Bloomberg. "We've reported to and kept seamless communications with the relevant law enforcement and data protection authorities concerning recent abnormal activities observed. There's no material impact on the company's business operation," it added.

REvil's demand was timed to coincide with Apple's major Spring product unveiling event.

Apple did not immediately respond when contacted by Insider. Quanta also did not respond to a request for comment.

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