Foxconn-LogoThe H-Online: Hackers operating under the name Swagg Security have said they were responsible for breaching the security of Chinese electronics manufacturer Foxconn. In a posting on Pastebin, the group took credit for penetrating the systems, noting that “Foxconn did have an appropriate firewall, but fortunately to our intent, we were able to bypass it almost flawlessly”. The posting pointed to a 6.5 MB torrent on The Pirate Bay which contained what appears to be CSV file dumps of database tables and other text files. The files included lists of what look like customer names, accounts and plain text passwords though many of those passwords are “foxconn” or “foxconn2”.

According to 9to5Mac, they were able to verify the passwords on “more than one Foxconn server”. The torrent files do include one file which notes that a number of servers at foxconn.com, such as gfmc.foxconn.com and services.foxconn.com, had the username “admin” and password “password1” and had already been taken down “(Took Down Site after fraudlent order from Apple, Dell, and Intel went through)”. Another file appears to be the result of running a tool called “raptor_dominohash” which exploits a flaw in Lotus Domino R6 to remotely get a dump of usernames and hashed passwords from a Lotus Domino based webmail system, and includes an entry for Terry Gou, the CEO of Foxconn. The hostname or IP address information for the webmail server is missing from the dump though, leaving its location as an exercise for the reader.

Foxconn produce electronic devices for numerous international companies including IBM, HP, Apple, Dell and others. With over 400,000 employees it is believed to assemble 40 per cent of all the consumer electronics in the world. The company has been criticized for working conditions in its facilities including the 230,000 employee Foxconn City.

Swagg Security say in their pastebin posting that they were not concerned with working conditions at Foxconn or with finding out about the iPhone 5. “We enjoy exposing governments and corporations, but the more prominent reason, is the hilarity that ensues when compromising and destroying an infrastructure” says Swagg Security.