A RANSOMWARE GROUP is attempting to extort the electronics manufacturing giant Foxconn, claiming that it stole 8 terabytes of data from the company, including schematics and project details from customers including Dell, Google, Apple, and Nvidia. Foxconn did not immediately respond to WIRED's request for comment about the validity of the claims, but the company did acknowledge that some of its North American factories “suffered a cyberattack” in recent days, and that "affected factories are currently resuming normal production” after outages.
Foxconn is the type of target that is particularly appealing to ransomware and data extortion actors, because it is a massive company with divisions and subsidiaries around the world that hold not only its own intellectual property but that of its customers. The company is a key manufacturing contractor for electronic components or entire devices, including Apple's iPhones.
“Ransomware groups are increasingly targeting victims that can impact the supply chain, whether it is physical or software,” says Allan Liska, a threat intelligence analyst at security firm Recorded Future. “So it’s unsurprising that a company like Foxconn would be targeted, since it does manufacturing and holds sensitive data for so many companies around the world.”
