India’s Tata Electronics said on Monday that it experienced a cyberattack after researchers reported that the group World Leaks had published over 200,000 files on the dark web, including documents linked to manufacturing designs and specifications for Apple and Tesla.
Security researchers told Reuters the group claimed responsibility for the attack.
Tata Electronics, a subsidiary of Tata Sons Pvt. Ltd., is part of the supply chain for Tesla and Apple.
The electronics manufacturer said in a statement that the “cybersecurity incident” occurred weeks ago and that it immediately activated response protocols.
It added that its operations were not affected.
“A few weeks ago, Tata Electronics identified a cybersecurity incident on some of our systems,” Tata Electronics told Reuters in a statement.
It added, “Our response protocols were deployed immediately, and the incident has had no impact on our operations across businesses, which remain unaffected.”
A source told Reuters that Apple had already launched an investigation into the incident and that a “full analysis” was underway. It was also reported that the attackers had demanded ransom from Tata. Apple and Tata did not respond to the outlet’s requests for comments.
The latest attack comes as another setback for Apple’s supply chain in India, where Tata has faced challenges related to alleged farmland contamination. Last year, a cyberattack disrupted production at its British Jaguar Land Rover unit for six weeks.
World Leaks said on its website that it had obtained Tata Electronics’ data. The group had previously claimed responsibility for a cyberattack on Nike. Its website said the data amounts to more than 630 gigabytes and includes over 200,000 files.
Reuters said some of the files appeared to be linked to Apple, although it could not independently verify their authenticity, and a folder was titled “com.apple.factorydata.”
Rajshekhar Rajaharia, an Indian cybersecurity researcher, said the data contained emails and passports of employees and foreign nationals.
Researchers also found a folder labelled “NV36 Chargeport Controller – North America,” which appeared to be linked to Tesla.