Chimera, a Chinese-linked hacker group, has infiltrated the network of the Dutch semiconductor giant NXP access for over two years from late 2017 to the beginning of 2020, reports NRC . During this period, they reportedly stole intellectual property, including chip designs—the full extent of the theft is yet to be disclosed.
The breach remained undetected until a similar attack occurred on the Dutch airline Transavia, a subsidiary of KLM. Hackers accessed Transavia's reservation systems in September 2019, which led to the discovery of the NXP hack. The hackers initially used credentials from previous data leaks on platforms like LinkedIn or Facebook and then used brute force attacks to guess passwords. They also bypassed double authentication measures by altering phone numbers.
NXP is a major player in the global semiconductor market and has been particularly influential after it acquired Freescale (an American company) in 2015. NXP is known for developing secure Mifare chips for applications such as Apple Pay, stating that the breach did not result in material damage. However, it did confirm the theft of intellectual property.
Following the breach, NXP took measures to boost its network security , it is reported. The company enhanced its monitoring systems and imposed stricter controls on data accessibility and transfer within the company. These steps aim to safeguard against similar incidents in the future to avoid breaches, keep valuable intellectual assets, and maintain their integrity.
But who knows what has been stolen already?
