Nvidia hackers threaten to unleash Ethereum mining limiter disabler

The ransomware outfit behind Nvidia’s data breach last week is looking to sell what it claims to be a driver that unlocks Ethereum mining limitations on the chipmaker’s graphic cards.

Fast facts

• The hacker group Lapsus$ allegedly stole 1TB of data from Nvidia’s network last week and threatened to release it if Nvidia didn’t provide updates to remove the Lite Hash Rate (LHR) mining limiter on its graphics processing units (GPUs), PCMagazine reported.
• Nvidia installed such LHR on a series of GPUs last year to discourage graphic card purchases from miners as gamers experienced limited access to supply.
• “We do not anticipate any disruption to our business or our ability to serve our customers as a result of the incident,” Nvidia said in a statement.
• “We request that NVIDIA commits to COMPLETELY OPEN-SOURCE (and distribute under a foss license) their GPU drivers for Windows, macOS and Linux, from now on and forever,” Lapsus$ wrote on its Telegram channel on Wednesday morning Asia time. 
• The hackers gave Nvidia a Friday deadline to meet their demands.