A ransomware attack has been detected in the systems of Aebi Sschmidt, one of the largest manufacturing companies in Europe and that has presence in the United States, reported cyber forensics course specialists.
The Swiss company, dedicated to the manufacture of airport and highway maintenance vehicles, had to interrupt its operations following the cyber security incident, reports a source close to the manufacturer.
The company’s systems collapsed throughout its entire international network, including branches in the United States, although cyber forensics course specialists claim that the most severe damage was presented at its headquarters in Europe. Individuals close to the incident claim that the company’s email server also suffered severe affectations.
Additional details about the attack are still unknown, such as the ransomware variant used against the company.
A couple of days after the incident were revealed, a company spokesman posted a message via social media mentioning that “some of the systems were interrupted due to a security incident”, mainly generating server corporate email fails. The message confirms that other systems suffered or still suffer some damage; although the spokesman no longer added details. “Cyber forensics course experts are working to restore our entire environment, but this will take a little longer”, the message concluded.
The source that revealed the information ensures that, although the company has not publicly acknowledged that this is a ransomware attack, this was confirmed to employees in some strategic areas of the company. In addition, the source mentions that many of the company’s systems still do not operate.
This incident adds to a long chain of attacks by ransomware against large companies recently occurred. A few weeks ago, experts from the International Institute of Cyber Security (IICS) reported a ransomware infection in the systems of Norsk Hydro, one of the largest aluminum production companies in the world. The attack cost about $40M USD in losses for the company; in the case of Aebi Sschmidt, the financial damage that the incident will generate is still unknown.
He is a well-known expert in mobile security and malware analysis. He studied Computer Science at NYU and started working as a cyber security analyst in 2003. He is actively working as an anti-malware expert. He also worked for security companies like Kaspersky Lab. His everyday job includes researching about new malware and cyber security incidents. Also he has deep level of knowledge in mobile security and mobile vulnerabilities.
