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.
ELECTRONICS BOOST: A predicted surge in exports would likely be driven by ICT products, exports of which have soared 84.7 percent from a year earlier, DBS said DBS Bank Ltd (星展銀行) yesterday raised its GDP growth forecast for Taiwan this year to 4 percent from 3 percent, citing robust demand for artificial intelligence (AI)-related exports and accelerated shipment activity, which are expected to offset potential headwinds from US tariffs. “Our GDP growth forecast for 2025 is revised up to 4 percent from 3 percent to reflect front-loaded exports and strong AI demand,” Singapore-based DBS senior economist Ma Tieying (馬鐵英) said in an online briefing. Taiwan’s second-quarter performance beat expectations, with GDP growth likely surpassing 5 percent, driven by a 34.1 percent year-on-year increase in exports, Ma said, citing government
‘REMARKABLE SHOWING’: The economy likely grew 5 percent in the first half of the year, although it would likely taper off significantly, TIER economist Gordon Sun said The Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER) yesterday raised Taiwan’s GDP growth forecast for this year to 3.02 percent, citing robust export-driven expansion in the first half that is likely to give way to a notable slowdown later in the year as the front-loading of global shipments fades. The revised projection marks an upward adjustment of 0.11 percentage points from April’s estimate, driven by a surge in exports and corporate inventory buildup ahead of possible US tariff hikes, TIER economist Gordon Sun (孫明德) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy likely grew more than 5 percent in the first six months
SMART MANUFACTURING: The company aims to have its production close to the market end, but attracting investment is still a challenge, the firm’s president said Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said its long-term global production plan would stay unchanged amid geopolitical and tariff policy uncertainties, citing its diversified global deployment. With operations in Taiwan, Thailand, China, India, Europe and the US, Delta follows a “produce at the market end” strategy and bases its production on customer demand, with major site plans unchanged, Delta president Simon Chang (張訓海) said on the sidelines of a company event yesterday. Thailand would remain Delta’s second headquarters, as stated in its first-quarter earnings conference, with its plant there adopting a full smart manufacturing system, Chang said. Thailand is the firm’s second-largest overseas
SUPPLY RESILIENCE: The extra expense would be worth it, as the US firm is diversifying chip sourcing to avert disruptions similar to the one during the pandemic, the CEO said Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) chief executive officer Lisa Su (蘇姿丰) on Wednesday said that the chips her company gets from supplier Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) would cost more when they are produced in TSMC’s Arizona facilities. Compared with similar parts from factories in Taiwan, the US chips would be “more than 5 percent, but less than 20 percent” in terms of higher costs, she said at an artificial intelligence (AI) event in Washington. AMD expects its first chips from TSMC’s Arizona facilities by the end of the year, Su said. The extra expense is worth it, because the company is