Sixt, a major car rental company that has more than 2,000 locations across over 110 countries, has been targeted in a cyberattack that caused some temporary disruptions.
Sixt said it detected suspicious activity on IT systems on April 29 and soon confirmed that it had been hit by a cyberattack.
The Germany-based company claimed the incident was “contained in an early stage” and that an investigation has been launched with assistance from external experts.
“As a standard precautionary measure, access to IT systems was immediately restricted and the pre-planned recovery processes were initiated,” Sixt said in a statement.
It added, “Many central Sixt systems, in particular the website and apps were kept up and running. Thereby, impacts on the company, its operations and services have been minimized to provide business continuity for customers. However, temporary disruptions, in particular in customer care centers and selective branches, are likely to occur in the short term.”
The company has not shared any additional information, but it’s possible that it was targeted in a ransomware attack.
SecurityWeek has checked the websites of several major ransomware groups and none of them has taken credit for the attack on Sixt. However, these cybercrime groups typically only name victims that don’t want to pay up after a given deadline, so the company’s name could still show up on a ransomware site later this month.
Companies may believe that they stopped a ransomware attack in its early stages, but by the time file-encrypting malware has been deployed, the attackers may have already stolen vast amounts of data.
SecurityWeek has reached out to Sixt for more information and will update this article if we hear back.
The cybersecurity industry and governments have been trying to help protect organizations against ransomware attacks, but ransomware remains a highly profitable business, with some cybercrime groups running massive operations that help them make millions.
New ransomware operations continue to emerge and old groups appear to be thriving, despite efforts to disrupt their activities.
Related: Colossus Ransomware Hits Automotive Company in the U.S.
Related: Ransomware Attack on Aviation Services Firm Swissport Leads to Flight Delays
Related: BlackCat Ransomware Targets Industrial Companies
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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