Foxconn Admits Last May's Ransomware Attack Had A Bad Impact On Factories

Foxconn just confirmed that a ransomware attack in late May disrupted operations at one of its factories. (photo: unsplash)

JAKARTA - Smartphone manufacturing giant Foxconn has just confirmed that a ransomware attack in late May disrupted operations at one of its Mexico-based production plants.

“It has been confirmed that one of our factories in Mexico suffered a ransomware cyber attack at the end of May. The company's cybersecurity team has implemented an appropriate recovery plan," said Foxconn spokesman Jimmy Huang.

The factory, located in Tijuana, Mexico, which is an important supply center for the United States (US), was extorted by the ransomware gang.

The operator behind the Lockbit 2.0 ransomware has claimed responsibility for the action in late May. A post from the Lockbit group showed they had given Foxconn about two weeks to meet its demands.

If the company doesn't comply, they will leak all stolen data from Foxconn's servers, unless the ransom is paid before June 11. The blackmailers' demands have not been disclosed.

As a manufacturing partner to some of the biggest names in technology, Foxconn may store valuable and sensitive third-party data on its systems. This could be a bigger concern for Foxconn than its own information and data records.

Foxconn has three factories in Mexico, which are responsible for the production of electronic goods such as LCD TVs, set top boxes and smartphones.

But Foxconn said that since the ransomware attack in late May, the cybersecurity team has been carrying out a recovery plan and operations are gradually returning to normal. Overall, the attack had little impact on the group's overall operations.

All affected clients, suppliers and management team members are continuously updated. It is not known whether the Lockbit organization will enjoy illicit profits from this attack, the payment of a ransom, or whether Foxconn has managed to mitigate its effects independently.

In addition, Foxconn acknowledged that while operations at the factory were disrupted due to a ransomware attack, now the factory is gradually returning to normal.

“Disruptions that occur in business operations will be handled through production capacity adjustments. Cybersecurity attacks are expected to have little impact on the Group's overall operations. Relevant information about the incident was also provided directly to our management, clients and suppliers," Huang said.

For your information, this is not the first major ransomware attack for Foxconn. Back in 2020, the manufacturer was hit when the computer system of the factory Ciudad Juárez fell victim to the DoppelPaymer ransomware. A ransom demand of 34 million US dollars equivalent to Rp490 billion in Bitcoin.