iPhone chipmaker shutdown over virus attack

Chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. has shut down several of its factories after it its systems were hit by a computer virus, reports Bloomberg.

The company told Bloomberg that the virus infected a “number of its fabrication tools,” but that the “degree of infection varies” from factory to factory.

Several have resumed their operations, but others won’t come back online until 24-hours.

The company indicated that its factories weren’t infected by a hacker.

“TSMC has been attacked by viruses before,” CFO Lora Ho told Bloomberg, “but this is the first time a virus attack has affected our production lines.” She didn’t disclose whether or not the affected lines were producing processors for Apple, nor what revenue has been lost as a result.

The slowdown comes at a critical time for the company, as many tech firms are working to release their next generation of products this fall.