Christiaan Beek, a security researcher at Rapid7, has developed the first known proof-of-concept ransomware that infects a computer's CPU by altering its microcode. This hardware-level ransomware bypasses all antivirus protections and persists even if hardware components such as the motherboard, RAM, or storage are replaced, or if the system is reformatted, as long as the infected CPU remains in use. The proof-of-concept was inspired by a recently discovered AMD Zen chip bug that allows unauthorized microcode to be loaded onto the processor. The attack leverages the UEFI firmware to install unsigned updates to the CPU, making detection and removal by conventional security tools ineffective. Beek has stated that the ransomware will not be released publicly. While there are no reports of CPU-level ransomware being used in the wild, experts note that such techniques could be exploited by advanced threat actors, including state-sponsored groups.