Shadowy group hack iPad maker Foxconn for the sake of 'hilarity'

  • Passwords and log-in credentials posted online could be used to make fraudulent orders, says Swagg Security, who claim responsibility
  • Several Foxconn workers are linked to suicide attempts

By Ted Thornhill
Updated:


Controversial manufacturing behemoth Foxconn has apparently been hacked by a group calling itself Swagg Security, which says it made public passwords and staff log-in credentials that could be used to make fraudulent orders.

The shadowy organisation posted a message to Pastebin last night claiming they’d broken through its security measures for ‘the hilarity that ensues when compromising and destroying an infrastructure’.

Foxconn is the biggest exporter in China and makes Apple’s iPod and iPad products. However, it has courted bad press recently over the conditions allegedly endured by its workers, some of whom are reported to have attempted committed suicide as a result.

Huang Xuehua, 24, from Guangdong province works inside a Foxconn factory in the township of Longhua in the southern Guangdong province May 26, 2010.
Workers are seen inside a Foxconn factory in the township of Longhua, China

Hard grafters: Workers inside a factory of Foxconn, which has reportedly been hacked by Swagg Security. A New York Times investigation looked at the working conditions

The New York Times claims that in 2009 a Foxconn employee fell or jumped from an apartment building after losing an iPhone prototype.

Over the next two years, at least 18 other Foxconn workers were linked to attempted suicides.

Critics point to photographs of one factory that has huge nets on its outside walls that appear to be have been erected to prevent workers jumping to their deaths.

Swagg Security managed to steal Foxconn staff email log-ins and intranet credentials and posted them online, explaining that they could be used to place fraudulent orders.

However, the group states that it didn’t carry out the attack to make a protest at worker conditions.

Unpleasant sight: Nets to prevent workers from jumping to their deaths are pictured outside one of the Foxconn factory buildings in the township of Longhua, in southern Guangdong province

Unpleasant sight: Nets to prevent workers from jumping to their deaths are pictured outside one of the Foxconn factory buildings in the township of Longhua, in southern Guangdong province

It said: ‘Although we are considerably disappointed of the conditions of Foxconn, we are not hacking a corporation for such a reason.

‘We enjoy exposing governments and corporations, but the more prominent reason, is the hilarity that ensues when compromising and destroying an infrastructure.

‘The act of destruction that does not affect an individual, brings a sense of newfound content, a unique feeling, along with a new chance to start your own venture.

‘This is Swagg Security, we aim to to reshape your perspectives.’

It added: ‘The passwords inside these files could allow individuals to make fraudulent orders under big companies like Microsoft, Apple, IBM, Intel, and Dell. Be careful.’

The Register reported that Foxconn’s Twitter feed acknowledged the hack, explaining that an ‘outdated vulnerability’ in a version of Internet Explorer was exploited.

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