Microchip Technology says operations disrupted by cyberattack

The American semiconductor manufacturer Microchip Technology detected “potentially suspicious activity” targeting its IT systems over the weekend, the company announced on Tuesday.

Unknown threat actors disrupted the use of “certain servers and some business operations,” Microchip reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission, without providing further details.

Upon detecting the incident, the company isolated the affected systems, shut down certain services, and launched an investigation with the assistance of external cybersecurity specialists.

As of Tuesday, manufacturing facilities were “operating at less than normal levels,” impacting Microchip’s ability to fulfill orders.

“The company is working diligently to bring the affected portions of its IT systems back online, restore normal business operations, and mitigate the impact of the incident,” the company said.

As the investigation is ongoing, the full scope, nature, and impact of the incident are not yet known, nor is it apparent who was behind the attack, they said.

Microchip has not yet determined whether the incident is likely to materially impact its finances or the results of operations.

The company manufactures products like microcontrollers and embedded security and radio frequency devices, selling them to companies in the automotive, industrial, aerospace and defense industries. Its sales in 2024 reached $7.6 billion.

Semiconductor companies are an attractive target for both financially motivated and nation-state hackers.  June, the U.K.-based company Arm and California-based Nvidia warned customers of new flaws in their graphics processors (GPUs) which could be exploited by hackers. Last October, U.S. chip manufacturer Qualcomm said hackers were likely exploiting multiple vulnerabilities in its GPUs.

The U.S. is highly protective of its domestic microchip manufacturers, and last year released national security “guardrails” for businesses that seek federal funding intended to boost domestic semiconductor manufacturing.

One regulation prohibits companies from expanding material semiconductor manufacturing capacity in foreign countries such as China and Russia for 10 years in order to “prevent technology and innovation from being misused” by foreign adversaries.

Overall, the Biden administration’s CHIPS and Science Act, passed in 2022, authorized nearly $53 billion in investments in U.S. semiconductor manufacturing, research, and development.