Expeditors International, an American logistics and freight forwarding company, was hit by a cyber attack over the weekend, forcing it to shut down most of its operations around the world.
Expeditors provides customers with crucial logistical solutions with an annual revenue of around $10 billion and more than 18000 workers in 350 locations throughout the world. Supply chain, warehousing and distribution, transportation, customs, and compliance are among the company’s services.
The type of cyber assault was not disclosed, but based on the pertinent description and anonymous reader cues, it appears to be a large-scale ransomware scenario.
On February 20, at 9:20 a.m. local time, an anonymous tip was received that Expeditors had been targeted by large-scale ransomware attack.
Although we were unable to verify the attack’s validity, Expeditors’ official website did issue a newsletter at noon that day, stating that the global business system had been forced to shut down due to a targeted network attack.
“While completing backup operations, we are reviewing and striving to restore the global operating environment’s stability and security. The system may not function properly during this time.”Expeditors International said.
Expeditors stated in a press release issued that night that, due to the cyber attack, it was compelled to shut down most of its operating systems around the world in order to ensure “the overall security of the global system environment.”
This occurrence has had a major impact. Freight, customs, distribution, and other business operations of Expeditors are limited, which would likely result in the stalling of clients’ goods.
The company also stated that until a backup is deployed for secure recovery, its business system will be unavailable.
To minimize the impact on clients, Expeditors is working with carriers and service providers to find solutions. However, there is no reliable estimate of how long it will take for the operation to recover.
A team of worldwide network security experts is also looking into the attack and assisting businesses in getting back to normal.
Despite the fact that Expeditors did not specify the type of the attack, it is most likely a wave of ransomware attacks. Because the global operation system is closed first, and then backup is used to restore the system, which is a standard recovery procedure after the network has been encrypted and locked.
The attack was described as a “significant incident” that “may have a serious detrimental impact on our business, revenue, operational capacity, and corporate reputation,” according to Expeditors.
The corporation stated that it will cover all costs associated with the investigation and implementation of remedial actions. Obviously, the larger the associated expenditures, the longer the recovery duration.
It is impossible to predict when Expeditors’ business will return at this time, but the company will provide updates “when it can.”
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