Internal documents from one of the world’s significant defense and space contractors, Boeing (BA.N.), were made public online on Friday by the cybercrime group Lockbit, which demands ransom payments in exchange for data theft and release.
In October, the hackers declared that they had amassed “a tremendous amount” of private information from the massive aerospace company and threatened to post it online unless Boeing paid a ransom by November 2.
The information from Boeing was released early on Friday morning, per a post on Lockbit’s website. Most of the files, which Reuters has not independently confirmed, are from late October.
In a statement, Boeing revealed that “elements” of the company’s parts and distribution division had encountered a cybersecurity problem.
Boeing stated, “We are aware that a criminal ransomware actor has released information it claims it took from our systems in connection with this incident.” “We continue to investigate the incident and will remain in contact with law enforcement, regulatory authorities, and potentially impacted parties, as appropriate.”
Although the business declined to comment on whether Lockbit had gotten defense or other sensitive material, it stated that it “remains confident” that the incident did not endanger aircraft or flight safety.
Lockbit ransomware, first noticed on Russian-language-based cybercrime forums in January 2020, has been found worldwide, with organizations in the United States, India, and Brazil among the most popular targets, antivirus company Trend Micro reported last year.
It described them as “one of the most professional organized criminal gangs in the criminal underground” . According to the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the group has targeted 1,700 U.S. organizations.
Trades in the U.S. Treasury market were halted on Thursday due to a ransomware assault that targeted the U.S. branch of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC).
According to several ransomware specialists and analysts, lockbit is thought to have been responsible for the breach, even though ICBC was not mentioned on the gang’s dark web domain, where it usually displays the names of its victims.
