Foxconn intranet attacked by hackers, the main target was Apple according to the hacktivists

A group of activists, called Swagg Security, has assaulted the computer network of Foxconn, the Chinese manufacturer that supplies Apple and other brands. The attackers have managed to penetrate the corporate intranet and spy on messages, emails and customer and employees management data of the company. The group has posted a file with passwords of the employees.

SwaggSec took the advantage of the company’s vulnerability in an older version of Internet Explorer that was still in use within the company. In a lengthy message, SwaggSec rejected an interpretation of this act’s direct political nature. The group maintained that it has not acted against Foxconn due to complaints about working conditions of employees, some of which are rumoured to be close to slavery. The group said it is fun to expose weak companies and governments as well as engage and destroy infrastructure. SwaggSec uses a reminiscent logo identification used by the group Lulzsec, which also preaches a playful approach to digital activism.

The Apple store in Central Station, New York, was also mentioned in a letter signed by 200,000 Internet users, criticizing the company for attending suppliers with harsh labour policies and called for ethical iPhone 5. The letter is the result of an Internet campaign on Change.org.

Apple however, mentioned Foxconn as one of the vulnerable supplier in a report that was published in January, 2012.

But the news about Apple does not end here. The Global Mail reported an increase in complaints from iTunes customers, who have received receipts of products that they have not purchased. This is not a new problem, however. It was detected a year ago but Apple did not pay much attention to it. Of course, in most cases the money was paid back. Customers in formed the company of the use of their PayPal accounts, credit cards or self-employed cards at the Apple store to charge for the products, The costs range from a few dollars and $500. The problem however, is not only with the misuse of credit cards but iTunes has also become victim to the hackers. BBC reported that a Chinese auction site sold 50,000 pirated songs from iTunes.

Moreover, in France, some sixty retailers of Apple products have protested the existence of these establishment of the these hack companies. They asserted on better provisioning and conditions of sale.

According to these retailers, Apple products are in short supply because these products get stolen before they even reach their destiny. They also criticized the control of Apple, both in the store design and in training their employees to run the franchises. Another complaint concerns trade margins that are very close comparison to other competitors.

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Posted by Usman Khalid on Feb 11 2012. Filed under Sci-Tech. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.