Vercel, the app and website hosting company, has revealed that hackers accessed some of its customers’ data before their recent breach, suggesting a more extensive security problem than initially thought.

The revelation comes after Vercel expanded its investigation into an earlier incident in April. In a statement, they said: 'We have uncovered a small number of customer accounts with evidence of prior compromise that is independent of and predates this incident.'

Vercel also mentioned more affected customers from the recent breach but provided no further details. The company initially attributed the breach to an employee downloading an app made by Context AI, which hackers then exploited.

CEO Guillermo Rauch noted that the hackers were active 'beyond that startup’s compromise,' potentially indicating a longer and wider-ranging attack. He hinted at malware use, possibly information-stealing software, to gain access to valuable keys and accounts.

The case highlights the ongoing threat of sophisticated cyber-attacks, even for large tech companies like Vercel. As more details emerge, it's clear that the digital landscape remains fraught with risks.