One of Apple’s Chinese assembly partners was hit by a cyberattack in December. The attack potentially resulted in product line details being leaked to hackers.
Apple’s huge supply chain has long been an attractive target for hackers looking to steal information or to disrupt production, holding it for ransom.
An assembly company located in China was the target of a sophisticated cyberattack in the middle of December, reports DigiTimes. While the identity of the assembler has not been announced, it could be one of the companies Apple works with, like Foxconn, Pegatron, or Wistron.
While the total impact of the attack hasn’t been revealed, it could have potentially compromised product line information. While this could include product details for iPhones or other Apple devices, we won’t know the details until a full disclosure of the attack is released to the public.
The report claims the attack may have impacted the company’s supply chain. The report says clients of the assembler are concerned about cybersecurity risks and supply stability at the company.
Cyberattacks have been on the rise in recent years, as hackers look to steal information or impact supply chains and factory output.
The most recent attacks may have been intended to gather information about how Apple’s product pipeline functions, or the attackers may have been attempting to infect systems with malware, holding the systems hostage to secure a hefty ransom from a sensitive production line.
In 2018, Apple chipmaking partner TSMC had its factories taken offline, due to a virus that took down production lines producing Apple chips.
