American aircraft manufacturer Boeing seems to have fallen prey to a recent cyber hack attack by ransomware gang Lockbit.
On October 27, 2023, Lockbit claimed that it had stolen “a tremendous amount” of Boeing’s sensitive data that it would publish and leak online if Boeing failed to pay the ransom by November 2, 2023.
“A tremendous amount of sensitive data was exfiltrated and ready to be published if Boeing does not contact within the deadline!”, the ransomware group said on its website.
On November 1, 2023, Boeing acted to acknowledge the attack. “We are aware of a cyber incident impacting elements of our parts and distribution business,” a Boeing spokesman said in a report by Reuters, adding: “This issue does not affect flight safety”.
On November 3, 2023, tech media outlet cybernews reported that, at some point between October 30 and 31, 2023, Boeing had been removed from Lockbit’s hack threat list, leading to speculation that the aircraft manufacturer had entered into negotiations with the ransomware group.
As of November 3, 2023, Boeing’s service site remains down due to “technical issues”.
LockBit is a cybercriminal group proposing ransomware as a service. They use double extortion tactics where they not only encrypt the victim’s data but also threaten to leak it if their demands are not met.
The group claims to have executed over 1,400 attacks against victims in the US and around the world, including Asia, Europe, and Africa.
