Ransomware hackers claim breach at Foxconn, a major electronics manufacturer for Apple, Google, and Nvidia

In Brief

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Electronics manufacturing giant Foxconn, which makes devices and components for Apple, Google, Nvidia, and Sony, among other tech giants, confirmed on Monday that it was hit by a cyberattack that may have affected some of its factories.

In a statement sent to media outlets, Foxconn said that the cyberattack affected facilities in North America and that “the affected factories are currently resuming normal production.”

The ransomware gang Nitrogen claimed responsibility for breaching Foxconn in a statement on its dark web leak site, where the group publicizes its victims in an attempt to extort them. Typically, if the victim doesn’t pay up, the hacking group publishes the stolen data. 

The hackers claim to have stolen over 11 million files, including confidential information from Foxconn customers, including Apple, Dell, Google, Intel, Nvidia, and others. As proof, the hackers published several images of what appear to be product schematics, guidelines, and bank statements. 

Nitrogen is a double-extortion ransomware group. That means the hackers encrypt files, making them inaccessible to the victims, but they also steal them first, which allows them to threaten to leak the stolen data. This strategy effectively gives Nitrogen two avenues to monetize their crimes. 

Foxconn did not immediately respond to a series of specific questions about the attack.

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