ABB, a leading electrification and automation technology provider, whose headquarters are in Zurich , has suffered a Black Basta ransomware attack which has reportedly impact business operations.
The attack took place on May 7th, and has been claimed by Black Basta the ransomware gang I have reported on a few times in my posts this year.
The ransomware attack targeted the company’s Active Directory service, affecting hundreds of devices across their IT estate disrupting the company’s operations, delaying projects and impacting their factories.
In response to the attack, ABB terminated all VPN connections with its customers to prevent the spread of the ransomware to other networks.
Press release
Whilst the IT infrastructure of ABB was impacted in the initial days of the attack, it appears that all systems are now back to operating capacity.
A press release dated 23rd May said “All of ABB’s key services and systems are up and running, all factories are operating, and the company continues to serve its customers. The company also continues to restore any remaining impacted services and systems and is further enhancing the security of its systems.”
The press release goes on to say:
“ABB has determined that an unauthorized third-party accessed certain ABB systems, deployed a type of ransomware that is not self-propagating, and exfiltrated certain data. The company is working to identify and analyze the nature and scope of affected data and is further assessing its notification obligations. ABB will communicate with affected parties where necessary, including, for example, specific customers, suppliers, and/or individuals where personally identifiable information was affected.”
The company has been quick to respond to customers and has released an FAQ for any worried clients.
Ransom paid
A post by Kevin Beaumont (@Gossithedog) implies that ABB paid the ransom to BlackBasta – a claim which holds some truth as there is no mention of the ABB breach data on the BlackBasta website.
Who are ABB?
Formed in 1988, ABB is a Swedish-Swiss multinational corporation headquartered in Zürich, Switzerland.
The company name is derived from the merger of Sweden’s Allmänna Svenska Elektriska Aktiebolaget (ASEA) and Switzerland’s Brown, Boveri & Cie. The company after the merger was known as ASEA Brown Boveri, later simplified to the initials ABB.
The company is a specialist electrical equipment manufacturer producing various switchgear components for industries all over the globe. ABB have also expanded to robotics and automation (PLC & SCADA) technologies.
- The company has multiple business sectors including:
- Electrification – producing products and services form sockets to substations.
- Motion – building electric motors, generators, drives and powertrain solutions
- Robotics & discrete automation – producing robots for manufacture and warehousing – This division is the 2nd largest manufacturer of robots globally
- Process Automation – producing integrated automation processes for variosu industries
- Power grid – This division produces components for the transmission and distribution of electricity in high-voltage environments
- Transport – This division produces heavy rolling stock for railways across the globe
ABB employs over 105,000 people worldwide and has an operating revenue of USD$29.5 Billion