Foxconn has confirmed a ransomware attack on its North American factories after the Nitrogen group claimed to have stolen 8TB of data. The attack affected facilities in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin, and Houston, Texas. The cybersecurity team activated its response mechanism and implemented measures to ensure production continuity. Affected factories are resuming normal production, according to a Foxconn spokesperson.
Nitrogen group claims sensitive data theft
Nitrogen claimed the stolen data includes confidential instructions, project documentation, circuit board layouts, and technical drawings for Apple, Nvidia, Intel, Google, Dell, and AMD. Foxconn has not confirmed whether customer data was actually taken and declined to answer specific questions on the subject. Nitrogen is a double-extortion group active since 2023 with suspected links to ALPHV/BlackCat. A programming error in Nitrogen's ESXi encryptor makes file recovery impossible even if the ransom is paid.
This is at least the third major ransomware attack on Foxconn facilities in recent years. The Mount Pleasant facility primarily produces televisions and data servers, which may limit the impact on Apple-specific product development. The Houston facility's product scope has not been detailed publicly.
Foxconn has not confirmed whether customer data was actually taken. The company declined to answer specific questions on the subject.
Source: NotebookCheck
