Apple supplier Foxconn hit by £25.5m ransomware attack
The attack, which reportedly took place on 29 November, has been claimed by the DoppelPaymer group


Apple supplier Foxconn has reportedly fallen victim to a ransomware attack, with hackers demanding $34 million (£25.5 million) in Bitcoin from the manufacturing giant, according to BleepingComputer.
According to the publication, cyber criminals targeted Foxconn’s CTBG MX facility in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, which is used to assemble and ship Foxconn’s offerings to regions across South and North America.
The attack, which reportedly took place on 29 November, has been claimed by DoppelPaymer hackers. The notorious group is also responsible for the recent ransomware attacks on Newcastle University and laptop maker Compal.
What is ransomware? Best ransomware removal tools The top 12 password-cracking techniques used by hackers
According to the ransom note obtained by BleepingComputer, the DoppelPaymer group has demanded a ransom of 1804.0955 bitcoins from Foxconn, which converts to around £25.5 million.
DoppelPaymer confirmed to BleepingComputer that they had attacked Foxconn’s Ciudad Juárez facility but denied having targeted the whole company. They admitted to encrypting about 1,200 servers, stealing 100GB of unencrypted files, as well as deleting between 20 and 30TB of backups.
"We encrypted NA segment, not whole Foxconn, it's about 1200-1400 servers, and not focused on workstations. They also had about 75TB's of misc backups, what we were able to - we destroyed (approx 20-30TB)," DoppelPaymer told the Bleeping Computer.
IT Pro contacted Foxconn for comment but has not heard back at the time of publication. Its CTBG MX facility’s website has reportedly been down since the day of the attack.
Sign up today and you will receive a free copy of our Future Focus 2025 report - the leading guidance on AI, cybersecurity and other IT challenges as per 700+ senior executives
It is not known whether the Taiwanese company, also known as Hon Hai Precision Industry, is planning to pay the ransom.
Weeks before the attack, DoppelPaymer targeted fellow Taiwanese manufacturer Compal, which handles the design and production of monitors, tablets, and television screens for tech giants such as Apple, Acer, Lenovo, Dell, Toshiba, HP, and Fujitsu.
According to the DoppelPaymer Tor payment site linked in the ransom note, the company had been asked to pay 1,100 Bitcoins, around £12,906,473, to receive a decryptor.
Compal spokesperson Lu Qingxiong told Taiwanese business news website UDN that the company had informed its suppliers that the incident was likely to affect some projects in the short term but added that most of the issues had been resolved.
Having only graduated from City University in 2019, Sabina has already demonstrated her abilities as a keen writer and effective journalist. Currently a content writer for Drapers, Sabina spent a number of years writing for ITPro, specialising in networking and telecommunications, as well as charting the efforts of technology companies to improve their inclusion and diversity strategies, a topic close to her heart.
Sabina has also held a number of editorial roles at Harper's Bazaar, Cube Collective, and HighClouds.
-
Hackers breached a 158 year old company by guessing an employee password – experts say it’s a ‘pertinent reminder’ of the devastating impact of cyber crime
News A Panorama documentary exposed hackers' techniques and talked to the teams trying to tackle them
-
The ransomware boom shows no signs of letting up – and these groups are causing the most chaos
News Thousands of ransomware cases have already been posted on the dark web this year
-
Everything we know about the Ingram Micro cyber attack so far
News A cyber attack on Ingram Micro severely disrupted operations and has been claimed by the SafePay ransomware group.
-
A prolific ransomware group says it’s shutting down and giving out free decryption keys to victims – but cyber experts warn it's not exactly a 'gesture of goodwill'
News The Hunters International ransomware group is rebranding and switching tactics
-
Swiss government data published following supply chain attack – here’s what we know about the culprits
News Radix, a non-profit organization in the health promotion sector, supplies a number of federal offices, whose data has apparently been accessed.
-
Ransomware victims are getting better at haggling with hackers
News While nearly half of companies paid a ransom to get their data back last year, victims are taking an increasingly hard line with hackers to strike fair deals.
-
LockBit data dump reveals a treasure trove of intel on the notorious hacker group
News An analysis of May's SQL database dump shows how much LockBit was really making
-
‘I take pleasure in thinking I can rid society of at least some of them’: A cyber vigilante is dumping information on notorious ransomware criminals – and security experts say police will be keeping close tabs
News An anonymous whistleblower has released large amounts of data allegedly linked to the ransomware gangs