Foxconn Refused To Pay $34.5 Million In A Recent Ransomware Attack

If a large corporation is successfully attacked with ransomware, it is not a question of ransom demands of a few hundred dollars. The exact sums are often kept silent – but things look different in the case of Foxconn.

As representatives of the company confirmed to the industry magazine DigiTimes, there was a successful attack of this kind on Foxconn’s infrastructure. Systems in a plant in Mexico were affected. The malware also ensured that internal information was leaked to the operators of the ransomware campaign.

The blackmailers threatened to publish the documents if Foxconn refused to pay a ransom. A total of $34.5 million was required, it said. However, the group refused to respond to the demands. It is currently not known whether the stolen data has actually been made public.

Manageable damage

However, Foxconn management doesn’t seem too concerned either. The stolen information is said to be ordinary business documents and reports on internal processes. Neither sensitive financial data nor personal data of employees are affected, it said. In this respect, it would certainly be annoying if the information became known, but the resulting risks for Foxconn’s business or the employees are quite manageable.

The ransomware infection is said to have occurred on Thanksgiving weekend in the branch in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Various electronic components are manufactured in the plant, which is then shipped to customers across America. At the same time, an attempt to attack the US plant in the state of Wisconsin was registered, but it probably came to nothing – probably also because there is still no significant production here. That should only change in the future.