Taipei – Taiwan-based manufacturing giant Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. (Foxconn) confirmed on Tuesday a cyberattack targeting its North American facilities. The confirmation follows media reports of a large-scale IT incident at the company’s Wisconsin plant, which forced a temporary shutdown of several production lines.
In an official statement, Foxconn noted that its cybersecurity team activated response mechanisms and implemented operational measures to ensure production continuity. The company added that affected factories are gradually returning to normal operations, after initially categorizing the incident as a “technical issue.”
Nitrogen Claims Theft of 11 Million Documents
The Nitrogen ransomware group has claimed responsibility for the breach on the dark web, asserting they exfiltrated 8 terabytes of data, including over 11 million internal documents. Reports suggest the stolen data may contain sensitive technical information linked to Foxconn’s high-profile clients, such as Apple, Nvidia, Intel, Google, and Dell. Nitrogen also posted sample files as proof of the breach.
Scope and Impact on AI Infrastructure
While acknowledging the disruption, Foxconn has not provided specific details regarding the scope of the data breach or the nature of the compromised information. The Wisconsin facility currently serves as a hub for high-end server production and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure development. This cyberattack raises significant concerns over data security as Foxconn continues its expansion into AI-driven technologies under recent incentive plans approved by regional authorities.
