Nvidia Hackers Are Selling A Way Around Ethereum GPU Mining Limiter

LAPSUS$, the hacking group behind the NVIDIA Corporation NVDA data breach last week, is now selling a way to bypass the hash rate limiter on the graphics card used to mine Ethereum ETH/USD.

What Happened: According to a report from PC Mag, the hackers claim to be in possession of a customized driver that can unlock the hash rate limiter across the RTX 3000 GPU series.

“If someone buy us the LHR, we will provide ways to [mess with] LHR without flashing anything. Without flashing = big money for any miner developer,” wrote the hackers in a public chatroom where they offered the driver for sale.

LAPSUS$ also demanded that Nvidia push an update for its 30 series firmware that would remove the hash rate limiter from its graphics cards entirely. If Nvidia fails to do so, the hackers threatened to leak a confidential folder it obtained containing details of the company’s hardware.

Why It Matters: Nvidia first introduced a hash rate limiter on its GeForce GPUs to make them less desirable to cryptocurrency miners. With crypto miners excessively buying up inventory, the price of these graphics cards was driven up due to shortages worldwide, leaving gamers around the world visibly displeased.

Nvidia also introduced its own line of graphics cards aimed at cryptocurrency miners. Yet the company’s revenue from its cryptocurrency mining processors (CMP) recorded a 77% decline in the last quarter.

CMP revenue for the quarter ended Jan. 10 was just $24 million, down considerably from the $105 million it reported in the previous quarter.

NVDA Price Action: Nvidia shares were down 4.21% Tuesday afternoon, trading at a price of $233.59. 

Photo by Christian Wiediger on Unsplash.