In a statement, a TSMC spokesperson confirmed the “cybersecurity incident” occurred at one of the company’s IT hardware suppliers, Kinmax Technology. TSMC says that the breach affects “information pertinent to server initial setup and configuration.”
While Apple is a major customer of TSMC, with the chipmaker manufacturing all of its Apple Silicon processors, this breach did not affect “customer information.”
Upon review, this incident has not affected TSMC’s business operations, nor did it compromise any TSMC’s customer information. After the incident, TSMC has immediately terminated its data exchange with this concerned supplier in accordance with the Company’s security protocols and standard operating procedures.
In a letter sent to TSMC and other affected customers, Kinmax Technology further explained:
In the morning of June 29, 2023, the Company discovered that our internal specific testing environment was attacked, and some information was leaked. The leaked content mainly consisted of system installation preparation that the Company provided to our customers as default configurations.
Kinmax’s other partners, as outlined by TechCrunch, include HPE, Cisco, Microsoft, Citrix, and VMware.
Apple hasn’t commented on this data breach, and it’s unlike the company will. Again, TSMC seems to be confident that none of its customers’ data was affected.
