On April 12th, a government-linked US commercial and defense shipbuilder was hit with a ransomware attack.
The Fincantieri Marine Group (FMG) confirmed the incident in a statement to USNI News last week, saying its email servers and some network operations were affected.
“Last week, Fincantieri Marine Group experienced a cybersecurity incident that caused temporary disruption to certain computer systems on its network,” reads the statement.
“The company’s network security personnel immediately isolated the system and reported the incident to relevant agencies and partners. Fincantieri will investigate the incident and restore full functionality to the affected system as quickly as possible. We have brought in additional resources to restore it.”
The company, a subsidiary of Italy-based Fincantieri SpA, also revealed that it had no evidence that employee personal information had been affected.
“This ransomware attack on the Fincantieri Marinette Marine shipyard disrupted operations throughout the shipyard by rendering data on network servers unusable and impacting critical CNCs. [Computer Numerical Control] Carol Volk, chief marketing officer at cybersecurity solutions provider BullWall, said:
“This highlights the potential impact of cyber-attacks on industrial control systems and the need for robust detection mechanisms to rapidly identify and respond to such threats. Even if we didn’t, the disruption caused by the attack could have significant operational and financial impact.”
Read more about OT attacks here: Nearly Half of Industrial Sector Computers Affected by Malware by 2022
According to Roy Akerman, CEO of cloud protection firm Rezonate, the company recently attempted to divert attention away from its goals such as spreading through networks and creating backdoors for other, more favorable motives. We are observing a ransomware attack.
“Especially here, for the U.S. Navy, there is an increased risk that ransomware will be the first visible risk, while other real intentions remain hidden,” Akerman added.
The disclosure of the FMG attack comes days after UK security services warned of a “state-aligned” Russian group that could mount devastating attacks on critical national infrastructure.
Editorial image credit: T. Schneider / Shutterstock.com
