German industrial engineering and steel production conglomerate Thyssenkrupp on Thursday confirmed one of its automotive units was disrupted by a ransomware attack.
The confirmation follows a published report in The Wall Street Journal that the steelmaker was forced to take a number of computer systems offline after detecting signs of a malicious intrusion.
“Yes, it was a ransomware attempt which failed,” a Thyssenkrupp spokesperson said in a statement to SecurityWeek.
The data extortion ransomware attack was aimed at the multinational company’s Automotive Body Solutions business and halted factory production work.
Thyssenkrupp described the situation as “under control” and said it was still able to supply customers.
Thyssenkrupp, which maintains headquarters in Duisburg and Essen in Germany, is one of the world’s largest steel producers. The company is divided into 670 subsidiaries worldwide.
Ransomware attacks against mega-corporations are becoming commonplace and the Thyssenkrupp intrusion is another sign that industrial and manufacturing entities are lucrative targets.
Just recently, Swiss industrial giant ABB was compromised in a ransomware attack that included the hijack and exfiltration of corporate data.
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