Freight shipping giant Estes Express Lines has started informing more than 21,000 individuals that their personal information was stolen in a recent ransomware attack.
The incident was identified on October 1, 2023, and the investigation into the matter determined that the attackers gained access to the company’s network on September 26, 2023.
While residing in the network, the attackers accessed and extracted data from some of Estes’ systems, and deployed ransomware.
Estes says that a forensic investigation into the incident was concluded on November 7, but notification letters started being sent to the affected individuals only in December, after law enforcement concluded their own investigation into the incident.
The personal information that was compromised in the attack, Estes told the Maine Attorney General’s Office, included names, other personal identifiers, and Social Security numbers.
“Estes is not aware of any identity theft, fraud, or financial losses resulting from this incident,” the company said in the notification letter to the impacted individuals, a copy of which was submitted to the Maine AGO. The company told the Maine AGO that just over 21,000 individuals were affected.
“We have taken actions to mitigate the incident, including notifying and cooperating with the FBI regarding the incident, successfully locking out the unauthorized threat actor from the company’s system, and undertaking a full forensic investigation of the incident. We have also taken numerous steps to remediate the malware and harden the company’s IT systems,” Estes’ notification letter reads.
The company also underlined that it did not pay a ransom, but did not share specific details on its remediation and restoration efforts.
While Estes did not name the ransomware that it fell victim to, the LockBit ransomware gang claimed responsibility for the attack in early November. On November 13, the group published the data allegedly stolen from Estes on its Tor-based leak site.
Estes is offering the affected individuals free identity monitoring services for 12 months.
Related: Xerox Confirms Data Breach at US Subsidiary Following Ransomware Attack
Related: Free Decryptor Released for Black Basta Ransomware
Related: Over 900k Impacted by Data Breach at Defunct Boston Ambulance Service
Related: LoanCare Notifying 1.3 Million of Data Breach Following Cyberattack on Parent Company
