It will take Nvidia some time to fully analyse the impact of the massive cyberattack it suffered over the weekend, but it now seems like the source code for its latest DLSS tech has wound up online. The hackers made off with around 1TB of sensitive data and worryingly for Nvidia, the leaks may continue unless the groups’ ransom demands are met.
The latest leak comes via an anonymous user who sent TechPowerUp a screenshot of what appears to be a repository of files related to DLSS 2.2. The leak includes various C++ files, assets and even a programming guide aimed at developers building DLSS into their games.
The leak is a major blow for Nvidia as DLSS is a proprietary and obviously an advanced bit of tech. AMD’s FidelityFX Super Resolution tech works differently and there’s little stopping AMD from poring over these docs in the hope of learning Nvidia’s secrets. Implementing any of it though is a different matter, from a legal point of view.
DLSS is arguably Nvidia’s most important gaming technology, especially the later versions. It delivers impressive frame rate gains while sacrificing very little in the way of image quality. These files are not something it would wish to see in the public domain.
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The leak of the DLSS source code is just the latest one following the recent cyberattack. The group has already leaked the names of the next generation of Nvidia GPUs. We already knew about the consumer oriented Ada Lovelace and professional Hopper architectures, but then there’s ‘Blackwell’ which may be another enterprise level family. It’s just a name, but its leak serves as a serious shot across the bow for Nvidia.
The group has threatened to release more information unless Nvidia removes its Ethereum hash rate limiter. That seems to be a pretty unlikely step, but who knows what might happen. Nvidia might not want really sensitive information to come to light.
