Ransomware attack: Ferry service to Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket is latest victim
The largest ferry service to Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket is the latest target of a ransomware cyberattack, disrupting the Steamship Authority’s operations and causing delays on Wednesday.
Following the Colonial Pipeline cyberattack last month and then an attack on the world’s largest meat processing company, the Massachusetts’ ferry service has now been hit by a ransomware attack — causing delays to and from the Islands on Wednesday.
Federal, state and local authorities, along with a team of IT professionals, were trying to determine the extent and origin of the attack Wednesday.
“The Woods Hole, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority has been the target of a ransomware attack that is affecting operations as of Wednesday morning,” the Steamship Authority tweeted.
“There is no impact to the safety of vessel operations, as the issue does not affect radar or GPS functionality,” the authority later said. “Scheduled trips to both islands continue to operate, although customers may experience some delays during the ticketing process.”
Steamship Authority customers on Wednesday were unable to book or change vehicle reservations online or by phone. Cash was preferred for all transactions.
“The availability of credit card systems to process vehicle and passenger tickets, as well as parking lot fees, is limited,” the ferry service said.
This cyberattack comes in the wake of an attack on the world’s largest meat producer, just weeks after a similar incident shut down a U.S. oil pipeline.
“Our systems are coming back online and we are not sparing any resources to fight this threat,” Andre Nogueira, CEO of JBS USA, said in a statement Wednesday.
Earlier, the White House said JBS had notified the U.S. of a ransom demand from a criminal organization likely based in Russia.
JBS is the second-largest producer of beef, pork and chicken in the U.S. If it were to shut down for even one day, the U.S. would lose almost a quarter of its beef-processing capacity, or the equivalent of 20,000 beef cows.
JBS, which has not stated publicly that the attack was ransomware, said the cyberattack affected servers supporting its operations in North America and Australia. Backup servers weren’t affected, and it said it was not aware of any customer, supplier or employee data being compromised.
Earlier this spring in Haverhill, a cyberattack left school buildings without access to wireless internet.
Superintendent Margaret Marotta said then that the district canceled classes after the district’s IT department recognized something was wrong and shut down the network before a “large scale corruption of the system occurred.”
Herald wire services were used in this report.
from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3yZJy8M
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