The Norwegian Shipping Classification Society DNV has been hit by ransomware (Opens in a new tab) The attack that forced the company to shut down some of its servers.
The attack affected nearly 1,000 vessels using DNV’s ShipManager software – a tool its customers use to monitor various features of their shipping fleets.
DNV says about 300 companies use the tool to manage more than 7,000 vessels. Of this number, 70 companies operating about 1,000 ships were affected by the accident – about 15% of the total fleet.
Unidentified attackers
The company also said that onboard functions that are not connected to the software can still be used, adding that other on-board systems are not affected by the ransomware attack. Moreover, ships can still work.
Besides ShipManager’s servers, other servers and data were not affected, the company said.
Other details about the accident are missing. The company did not say which group was behind the attack, or how the ransomware was deployed (if any malware, phishing, or social engineering was used in the attack). No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far.
We also don’t know the ransom demand, or deadlines, as the company declined to comment on the possibility of sensitive data being stolen, and also refused to say whether the attack would cause any delays to ships and cargo.
However, DNV confirmed that the police and other law enforcement agencies have been notified.
The attack was reported to the Norwegian police, and the relevant police agencies were informed. This has also been reported to the Norwegian National Security Agency, the Norwegian Data Protection Authority (DPA) and the German Cybersecurity Authority. All affected customers have been made aware of their responsibility to notify the relevant data protection authorities in their countries,” the organization stated.
Via: TechCrunch (Opens in a new tab)