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Chemicals Company Element Solutions Discloses Cybersecurity Incident

Florida-based specialty chemicals company Element Solutions on Wednesday revealed that it had experienced a cybersecurity incident.

Florida-based specialty chemicals company Element Solutions on Wednesday revealed that it had experienced a cybersecurity incident.

The company’s solutions are used in manufacturing processes in sectors such as electronic circuitry, automotive systems, communication infrastructure, industrial surface finishing, offshore energy and consumer packaging. Element Solutions employs roughly 4,400 people and it has a presence in more than 50 countries. For 2020, the company reported $1.85 billion in net sales.

The company said it had detected an intrusion on some of its IT systems and it “promptly took action to contain it and implement business continuity and data recovery protocols.”

“The Company engaged leading cyber security experts and notified relevant law enforcement authorities as part of its incident response,” the firm stated. “The impact of this incident is expected to be limited and has not changed the Company’s outlook for net sales or adjusted EBITDA in 2022. For the fiscal year 2021, the Company is reconfirming its previously announced guidance and expects adjusted EBITDA at or above the midpoint of its guidance range.”

The brief description of the breach shared by Element Solutions suggests that it may have involved ransomware.

SecurityWeek has checked the leak websites of all the major ransomware groups, but the company does not appear to be listed on any of them at this time.

We have reached out to Element Solutions for more information and will update this article if the company responds.

Related: Major U.S. Chemical Firms Hit by Cyberattack

Related: IT Services Firm Inetum Discloses Ransomware Attack

Related: Colossus Ransomware Hits Automotive Company in the U.S.

Written By

Eduard Kovacs (@EduardKovacs) is a contributing editor at SecurityWeek. He worked as a high school IT teacher for two years before starting a career in journalism as Softpedia’s security news reporter. Eduard holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial informatics and a master’s degree in computer techniques applied in electrical engineering.

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