Intel breach: 20GB of confidential, 'restricted secret' files leaked

Uh... so things have already gone from bad to worse with Intel in the last few years and recently, the last few months with disaster (7nm was already a mess, then it was delayed until 2022) after disaster (Intel hardware chief leaves after 7nm mess announced) -- but have we now reached peak Intel doom?

Intel is currently investigating a security breach that has seen 20GB of internal documents leaked, with some of these files market "confidential" or "restricted secret". The files were leaked and then uploaded onto the Kim Dotcom-created MEGA file sharing website.

Till Kottmann, a Swiss software engineer, published the data after receiving the files from an "anonymous hacker who claimed to have breached Intel earlier this year", reports ZDNet.

In his tweet, Kottmann says: "Intel exconfidential Lake Platform Release ;) This is the first 20gb release in a series of large Intel leaks. Most of the things here have NOT been published ANYWHERE before and are classified as confidential, under NDA or Intel Restricted Secret".

• What do the leaked Intel files include? The leaked files include a bunch of Intel intellectual property (IP) that include information on the internal design of its chipsets. The leaked files included technical specs, product guides, manuals for CPUs, and so much more.
• What has Intel said about it? Intel has said: "We are investigating this situation. The information appears to come from the Intel Resource and Design Center, which hosts information for use by our customers, partners and other external parties who have registered for access. We believe an individual with access downloaded and shared this data".

But we are being told not to worry as "none of the leaked files contain sensitive data about Intel customers or employees" according to ZDNet's "review" of the situation. The site adds that "the question remains to what else the alleged hacker had access to before stealing and releasing Intel's confidential files".

Intel actually denies being hacked, disputing Kottmann's claim.

Summary of leaked Intel confidential files:

• Intel ME Bringup guides + (flash) tooling + samples for various platforms
• Kabylake (Purley Platform) BIOS Reference Code and Sample Code + Initialization code (some of it as exported git repos with full history)
• Intel CEFDK (Consumer Electronics Firmware Development Kit (Bootloader stuff)) SOURCES
• Silicon / FSP source code packages for various platforms
• Various Intel Development and Debugging Tools
• Simics Simulation for Rocket Lake S and potentially other platforms
• Various roadmaps and other documents
• Binaries for Camera drivers Intel made for SpaceX
• Schematics, Docs, Tools + Firmware for the unreleased Tiger Lake platform
• (very horrible) Kabylake FDK training videos
• Intel Trace Hub + decoder files for various Intel ME versions
• Elkhart Lake Silicon Reference and Platform Sample Code
• Some Verilog stuff for various Xeon Platforms, unsure what it is exactly.
• Debug BIOS/TXE builds for various Platforms
• Bootguard SDK (encrypted zip)
• Intel Snowridge / Snowfish Process Simulator ADK
• Various schematics
• Intel Marketing Material Templates (InDesign)