The Web site of Hon Hai Technology Group’s (鴻海科技集團) semiconductor parts manufacturing affiliate Foxsemicon Integrated Technology Inc (京鼎精密) yesterday appeared to have been hijacked by a ransomware group, displaying a message threatening to release the personal information of the company’s customers and employees.
It is the first time a major local business has been targeted in a Web site defacement attack.
“Your data is stolen and encrypted,” a message at the top of Foxsemicon’s Web site stated, adding that it held 5 terabytes of the company’s information and would publish it online if a ransom was not paid.
Photo: screen grab from Foxsemicon Integrated Technology Inc’s Web site
“If you are a Foxsemicon customer, we have all your personal data,” it said. “All your personal data will be freely available on the Internet if Foxsemicon not pays [sic] money.”
It also included a threatening message for employees of the semiconductor equipment company.
“If your management does not contact us, you will lose your job, as we are able to completely destroy Foxsemicon with no possibility of recovery,” it said.
Photo: CNA
In a company statement submitted to the Taiwan Stock Exchange, Foxsemicon said it recovered its Web site in the afternoon, soon after detecting the attack, adding that it was working with security experts.
However, as of press time last night, the firm’s English-language Web site remained inaccessible, displaying the ransomware message, while many portions of its Mandarin-language site, including corporate information and financial statements, also appeared to be inaccessible.
The company’s preliminary assessment showed that the incident should not significantly affect its operations, Foxsemicon said in the statement.
The company did not disclose any information about the ransom demanded by the hackers. It also did not state whether any personal information of its customers or employees was leaked.
Foxsemicon is about 15.22 percent owned by Hon Hai through its subsidiaries. Applied Materials Taiwan (台灣應用材料) holds an 8.36 percent share in the company.
Global weekly cyberattacks rose 3 percent annually during the first three quarters of last year, a report released by Check Point Research showed.
Taiwan was the most hacked area with an average of 1,509 attacks per week.
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