Chinese hackers steal chip designs from major Dutch semiconductor company — perps lurked for over two years to steal NXP's chipmaking IP

Abstraction: Chimera group stole NXP semiconductor IP undetected for 2.5 years

Key points:

• Chinese-linked Chimera group breached NXP (Europe's largest chipmaker) from late 2017 to early 2020 — over 2.5 years undetected
• Discovered only because a parallel Chimera attack on Dutch airline Transavia (KLM subsidiary) in September 2019 revealed NXP network communications
• Initial entry used credentials from LinkedIn/Facebook data leaks plus brute force; bypassed 2FA by altering phone numbers
• Data exfiltrated via encrypted files to cloud services: Microsoft OneDrive, Dropbox, Google Drive
• NXP claims stolen data is too complex to easily replicate designs; did not proactively inform the public
• NXP makes secure elements for Apple Pay and Mifare chips for public transit

Connections: Nxp · Cybersecurity · Supply Chain Security

Source: https://www.tomshardware.com/news/chinese-hackers-steal-chip-designs-from-major-dutch-semiconductor-company