Wednesday, March 25th 2020
AMD Reports Theft of Graphics IP, Stolen Information Not Core to Competitiveness
AMD today disclosed that in December 2019, it was contacted by a person in possession of test files related to development of future graphics products, some of which were posted online and later taken down. This person has additional files that were never posted online, but the company maintains the data breach won't affect the competitiveness or security of its upcoming graphics processors. The company said that it is working closely with law enforcement as part of a criminal investigation into the incident.
The statement by AMD follows:
According to a Torrent Freak report, AMD used the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to take down the leaked information. The person behind the data breach posted the it (mostly source code related to drivers or firmware), onto a GitHub repository by the handle "xxXsoullessXxx," and titled "AMD-navi-GPU-HARDWARE-SOURCE." The repo contains code that points to "Navi 10," "Navi 21," and "Arden," possibly an internal codename for the GPU of Xbox Series X. Following the DMCA complaint, GitHub's admins promptly scrubbed the repo.
The Torrent Freak report also includes a conversation with the person. "In November 2019, I found AMD Navi GPU hardware source codes in a hacked computer. The user didn't take any effective action against the leak of the codes," she states. "The source code was unexpectedly achieved from an unprotected computer//server through some exploits. I later found out about the files inside it. They weren't even protected properly or even encrypted with anything which is just sad." The leaker values the information at around $100 million, and is willing to sell it to the highest bidder. "If I get no buyer I will just leak everything," she told Torrent Freak.
Sources:
AMD, Torrent Freak
The statement by AMD follows:
At AMD, data security and the protection of our intellectual property are a priority. In December 2019, we were contacted by someone who claimed to have test files related to a subset of our current and future graphics products, some of which were recently posted online, but have since been taken down. While we are aware the perpetrator has additional files that have not been made public, we believe the stolen graphics IP is not core to the competitiveness or security of our graphics products. We are not aware of the perpetrator possessing any other AMD IP. We are working closely with law enforcement officials and other experts as a part of an ongoing criminal investigation.
The Torrent Freak report also includes a conversation with the person. "In November 2019, I found AMD Navi GPU hardware source codes in a hacked computer. The user didn't take any effective action against the leak of the codes," she states. "The source code was unexpectedly achieved from an unprotected computer//server through some exploits. I later found out about the files inside it. They weren't even protected properly or even encrypted with anything which is just sad." The leaker values the information at around $100 million, and is willing to sell it to the highest bidder. "If I get no buyer I will just leak everything," she told Torrent Freak.
36 Comments on AMD Reports Theft of Graphics IP, Stolen Information Not Core to Competitiveness
But this IP still holds value, like it or not. If someone wanted to create a GPU they could technically do it and remake a simular version of it.
I mean on products that hold IP still does'nt stop vendors from creating products that look a like or function a like.
I am a hobbyist aa enthusiast. I try to read a lot on it, since I don't understand much about computer graphics - that I do, in fact. Precisely 100% of my gpu purchases has been on aa, I literally would trade all higher res benefits just to be able to get the same crt image clarity. So, be careful what you say. I'm a fragile relic, but even a broken clock is right twice a day. The hardware and software developers ensemble are collecting 100% of their efforts to reach the correct tonage of tube tvs that crts had.
Res, is a post-truth symptom suffered by the millenials, in my opinion, and I have the industry projected development goals vector to back me. As you would say, all your base are belong to us. :)
However, you say you buy all GPU's based on AA, but pixelation is just another visual distortion created by technology. CRT's had 'blur' around the phosphor dots - it's how they created colour but even a dot is not truly observed as reality in terms of what a human sees. I'm only saying this because you made a statement that 'Res(olution)?, is a post-truth symptom suffered by millenials, in my opinion...'. The get-out there is you stated it's an opinion but resolution is the means to reduce AA by creating ever smaller pixels from which to create straighter, razor sharp lines. As for the industry development, we're moving to 4k, to 8k and onwards, all for greater visual fidelity. So, resolution is the momentum of the industry.
CRT's were never awesome at AA, they were superb for colour clarity and minimal input lag. But even a CRT had a pixel limit by design.
As far as varibale rate shading goes, it's just another system to reduce processing power on items that don't require substansive detail, therefore increasing resources to render the remainder of the scene.
There are other software fixes for increased performance related the focal field of view (similar to how we do it) reducing resource intensity on areas of vision in the periphery (espec. with VR, I think).
Neither could be used to make same or similar GPU, in fact, neither should be of any real interest to anyone or any company, they don't know AMDs internal language to make any use of the verilog files, and if it's the microcode option it should be just as useless.
As for this...They are a relic of the past. You can take it as you will.