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Taiwan-based manufacturing giant Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. on Tuesday confirmed a cyberattack targeting some of its North American facilities. The company, known globally as Foxconn, issued a statement on Tuesday night acknowledging the incident after the factories experienced disruptions.
According to a report by Focus Taiwan, while the company did not provide specific details regarding the nature of the compromised data or the full scope of the breach, it noted that the affected operations were gradually returning to a normal state. The confirmation followed media reports of a large-scale IT system incident that recently broke out at the company's facility in Wisconsin. This disruption forced a temporary shutdown of several production lines. As per the report, the Nitrogen ransomware group was identified as the perpetrator behind the attack. The hackers claimed on the dark web that they breached the Foxconn network and took 8 terabytes of data, a haul that reportedly included more than 11 million internal documents. "The company's cybersecurity team activated the response mechanism and implemented operational measures to ensure the continuity of production and delivery," the report quoted Foxconn. "The affected factories are currently resuming normal production." The leaked data may have included sensitive technical information linked to several major Foxconn clients. According to the report, these clients include Apple Inc., Intel Corp., Google LLC, Nvidia Corp., and Dell Technologies. To serve as proof of the breach, Nitrogen posted a collection of sample files on the dark web. Foxconn had initially described the incident as a "technical issue" when news of the cyberattack first surfaced before moving to confirm the nature of the event. While Foxconn acknowledged the attack and temporary disruptions to some production lines, it did not provide details on the scope of the breach or the nature of the compromised data. Foxconn first announced plans to invest in Wisconsin in 2017, initially proposing to build a large liquid crystal display (LCD) panel plant in Mount Pleasant. The LCD plant never materialized, and neither did Foxconn's commitment to invest USD 10 billion and create 13,000 jobs at the Wisconsin site. The company now uses it as a base for high-end server production and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure development. As of late 2025, the company had invested USD 2 billion there and created 1,500 jobs, it said. In late 2025, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) approved a new four-year operational incentive plan, supporting Foxconn's continued expansion into AI and data security infrastructure in the region. (ANI)
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