A ferry service that caters to Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket was struck with a ransomware attack on Wednesday.
Massachusetts Steamship Authority announced that its customers are “unable to book or change vehicle reservations online or by phone,” and some may experience “delays,” though no threats “to the safety of vessel operations” have been noted as of noon. The company has requested patrons pay in cash as “the availability of credit card systems to process vehicle and passenger tickets, as well as parking lot fees, is limited.”
“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 ferry service tweeted on Wednesday morning. “As a result, customers traveling with us today may experience delays. A team of IT professionals is currently assessing the impact of the attack,” the group continued. “Additional information will be provided upon completion of the initial assessment.”
JBS MEAT PRODUCER BOUNCES BACK QUICKLY AFTER MAJOR CYBERATTACK
Neither the extent of the attack nor its origin was reported at the time of publishing. All ferries have been operational, despite the attack.
The breach follows an alarming hack of JBS, the largest beef producer in the United States, earlier in the week. The company has since rebounded quickly after many of its slaughter facilities were forced to halt operations.
The systems were found to be compromised by a Russian criminal enterprise, and the White House was subsequently alerted.
The company said in a statement late Tuesday that it expected the “vast majority” of its meat plants to be operating on Wednesday because it had made “significant progress” in tackling the cyberattack.
“Our systems are coming back online and we are not sparing any resources to fight this threat,” JBS USA CEO Andre Nogueira said in a statement. “We have cybersecurity plans in place to address these types of issues and we are successfully executing those plans.”
The U.S. has been on edge since May 7, when the Colonial Pipeline was forced to halt its operations following a breach from the criminal group DarkSide. Top brass eventually paid a nearly $5 million ransom as the disruption roiled the East Coast’s gas supply leading to widespread shortages and panic.
On Sunday, former National Security Agency chief Keith Alexander warned that the U.S. is “not ready” to combat against a potential flurry of cyberattacks from both Russia and China.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
He said hacks from the two nations are “more blatant than” any he’s ever seen throughout his “whole career.” The former NSA boss also remarked that President Joe Biden‘s March 12 executive order, intended to bolster the country’s response to cyberattacks through coordination with the private sector, is a step in the right direction, adding that more needs to be done.
“Both Russia and China are challenging us in this space, and it’s shown that we’re not ready,” he told ABC’s Martha Raddatz. “I think the executive order has some part of it, [but] we have to go faster. In my experience, the private sector is ready, they’re pushing forward.”
