American chipmaker Microchip Technology says a cyber attack has impacted its systems over the weekend, disrupting operations across several manufacturing facilities.

The incident, announced on Tuesday, left some Microchip Technology manufacturing facilities operating at reduced capacity, affecting the company's ability to meet orders.

In an 8-K form filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Tuesday, Microchip said it detected “potentially suspicious activity” on August 17, which involved its IT systems. 

Two days later, it determined an unauthorized party disrupted the company’s use of certain servers and some business operations, leading to the shutdown of some parts of the IT infrastructure:

“The company promptly took additional steps to address the incident, including isolating the affected systems, shutting down certain systems, and launching an investigation with the assistance of external cybersecurity advisors,” the SEC filing reads.

“As a result of the incident, certain of the company’s manufacturing facilities are operating at less than normal levels, and the company’s ability to fulfil orders is currently impacted.”

It has said it has taken steps to manage the situation, such as shutting down some systems and isolating the affected ones following the breach.

Potential Ransomware Attack

Microchip Technology said the full scope, nature and impact of the incident was not yet known and it has not determined whether the disturbance was likely to materially affect its financial condition.

While the company has not yet disclosed the nature of the incident, its SEC filing suggests it may be a ransomware attack, since companies that are forced to shut down parts of their infrastructure do so because of ransomware.

But no threat actors have claimed responsibility for the attack, so we will either have to wait for confirmation, or for sensitive data to leak on the dark web.

The company’s shares of which were down about 2% in extended trading, said its manufacturing facilities were operating at less-than-normal levels and its ability to fulfil orders was impacted.

It comes as the company grapples with slowing orders for chips as clients work through excess inventory built up during the COVID pandemic.