U.S. chipmaker NVIDIA recently announced it is investigating a potential cyberattack after two days of outage.
According to the company, a malicious network intrusion may have caused the outages, compromising its internal email system and developer tools. While it is still unclear if any data were stolen or deleted, some of its email services were said to be back online on Friday, per Engadget.
NVIDIA's statement on the matter indicates it is still working to evaluate the nature and scope of the attack and that they don't have any additional information to share at the time of this article's publication, per the Telegraph. The company added that its business and commercial activities continue uninterrupted despite the attack and subsequent outages.
Attacked by Russians?
NVIDIA is one of America's most valuable chipmakers and is known for its GPUs that enahnces gaming experiences and advanced computer simulations, according to Reuters. It is also one of the companies that could be affected by a "highly" possible tech sanction on Russia, who is currently invding Ukraine.
In a recent CNBC news report, Abishur Prakash--co-founder of the Center for Innovating the Future--said in an email that the U.S. has a "full spectrum of options when it comes to technology sanctions." These include pushing the country's tech companies who have Russian funding or Russian board members to change their structure, submit a proposal to delist Russian firms from American stock markets, or implement a ban on the export of certain certain to Russia.
Read also: Facebook Security: 4 Steps to Follow to Lock FB Profile and Prevent Hacking, Manipulation
Prakash also said there is a "high likelihood" that the West will try and block access to semiconductor chips--something that is short supply due to the ongoing global shortage on it.
"Since the first round of sanctions targeted Russia's financial sectors, the next round[s] are likely to trarget Russia's military and economy - putting semiconductors in the crosshairs," Prakash added.
However, Engadget reported that the recent attack on NVIDIA can't be tied to Russia due to lack of evidence. This is despute concerns of cyberwarfare from Russia after the U.S. and other nations placed sanctions on the country that includes a moratorium on exporting semiconductors to the country.
How to Prevent Being Hacked
Whether it's Russia or a third-party who attacked NVIDIA, we won't know NVIDIA's data on its customers was stolen until either NVIDIA announces it or until the data is used to attack NVIDIA customers.
People can use websites such as Have I Been Pwned to know if cyberattackers have compromised their email address or phone numbers. Other similar sites, such as Avast's Hack Check, can be used to check if a user's password is already leaked.
People can also amp up their cybersecurity by keeping software and operating system updated, using and updating anti-virus software and strong passwords for online accounts, and never opening attachments in spam emails, per Kaspersky. The operators behind the popular anti-virus program also mentioned to not click links in spam emails or untrusted sites.
