Laptop maker says a vendor breach exposed some phone camera code, but not its own systems

Asus has admitted that a third-party supplier was popped by cybercrims after the Everest ransomware gang claimed it had rifled through the tech titan's internal files.

In a statement, Asus said a supplier "was hacked" and the incident "affected some of the camera source code for Asus phones," but insisted there was "no impact" on its own products, internal systems, or customer privacy. The hardware maker added it is "strengthening supply chain security in compliance with cybersecurity standards," without naming the compromised vendor or specifying exactly what code was taken.

The confession comes after Everest, a long-running ransomware and extortion crew known for targeting major vendors, claimed it had looted 1 TB of data from Asus, ArcSoft, and Qualcomm, and published screenshots of what it said were stolen documents.

In a post on its dark web leak site, seen by The Register, Everest said: "Files contain this information and ...