One of the world’s largest electronics manufacturers, Foxconn Technology Group (better known as Foxconn), has become the latest ransomware attack victim. A hacker’s group had reportedly compromised data from the company’s North American facility during the Thanksgiving weekend and has requested over 1,800 bitcoins as demand.
Established in 1974, Foxconn has become one of the largest electronics manufacturers in the world, whose subsidiaries include Sharp Corporation, Innolux, and Belkin. The Taiwan-based giant employs over 800,000 people worldwide and has facilities in numerous countries.
One such facility, opened in 2005 and located in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico, has fallen victim to a DopplePaymer ransomware attack, according to a report from BleepingComputer.
The hack took place over the Thanksgiving weekend, and the facility’s website has been down since then. The attackers published Foxconn files on a designated data leak website. However, they have revealed only generic business documents and reports and refrained from issuing any sensitive financial or employee data.
The report further claimed that it interviewed the hackers where they confirmed the attack was only on Foxconn’s North America facility and not on the entire company.
The perpetrators have reportedly encrypted about 1,200 servers, stole 100 GB of unencrypted files, and deleted 20-30 TB of backups.
Ransomware attacks mean hackers infiltrate individuals, companies, or organizations and encrypt or steal sensible information. In order to provide the necessary encryption tools and regain access to the data, the perpetrators request a ransom, which is often demanded in bitcoin.
This is the case with the attack on Foxconn. The hackers have left a ransom note with a link to the company’s designated victim page on DoppelPaymer’s Tor payment site. It reads that the demand is 1,804.0955 bitcoins. With today’s prices, this equals about $34 million.
Similar ransomware attacks have become increasingly popular lately. CryptoPotato has reported several such cases in the past few months alone.. The gaming giant Capcon became a victim in early November, and the hackers requested $11 million in BTC.
More recently, The Black Shadow group compromised an Israeli insurance giant called Shirbit. After encrypting sizeable portions of data, the hackers demanded up to $4 million in the primary cryptocurrency.
