Oilfield services company Gyrodata last week revealed that it was recently targeted in a cyberattack that resulted in sensitive employee information being compromised.
Houston, Texas-based Gyrodata provides surveying and wireline services for oil and gas, mining, and civil engineering projects.
On February 21, the company discovered a piece of ransomware on its systems. An investigation showed that the attackers had access to its systems at least between January 16 and February 22, 2021.
The hackers appear to have gained access to servers storing information on current and former employees, including names, dates of birth, addresses, social security numbers, driver’s license numbers, passport numbers, W-2 tax forms, and health plan information.
It’s unclear how many individuals are affected or if the incident has had an impact on operations. SecurityWeek has reached out to the company for more information and will update this article if it responds.
Gyrodata says it has started informing impacted individuals and providing free credit monitoring and identity protection services to those whose SSNs or driver’s license numbers have been compromised.
The company has contracted a cybersecurity firm to assist with its investigation and federal law enforcement has also been notified.
SecurityWeek has checked the leak websites of some of the most popular ransomware gangs, but did not find any mention of Gyrodata. Cybercrime groups typically threaten to publish stolen information on these sites unless a ransom is paid.
Cybersecurity firm Kaspersky last month reported that it had observed a drop in ransomware attacks on industrial control system (ICS) computers in the second half of 2020, but saw an increase in these types of attacks in developed countries.
At the beginning of 2021, the threat actors behind the Cring ransomware were observed launching attacks on European industrial enterprises, forcing at least one organization to shut down a production site.
Related: Packaging Giant WestRock Says Ransomware Attack Impacted OT Systems
Related: Ransomware Operators Start Targeting Microsoft Exchange Vulnerabilities
Related: Inside the Ransomware Economy
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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