Axis Communications, a Sweden-based company whose network cameras and other physical security solutions are used by government and private sector organizations from around the world, was recently hit by a cyberattack that disrupted its operations.
Axis informed customers about an “IT-related intrusion” on February 21, one day after its cybersecurity systems detected the breach. Public-facing services were shut down globally to limit potential impact.
In an update shared on Sunday, the company said the attack involved social engineering and account takeovers, with the attackers managing to bypass multi-factor authentication. The attacker also used “advanced methods” to elevate their access and compromise internal directory services.
The company decided to shut down all network access globally, which resulted in disruption to employee and partner services.
On its website, the Canon subsidiary says it has more than 3,800 employees across over 50 countries and it reported sales of roughly $1.2 billion in 2020. This makes it a tempting target for profit-driven cybercriminals.
However, it’s still unclear if this was a ransomware or other type of attack. The company said “no servers have been found to be encrypted,” but it did confirm that malware was found.
“No customer information has been found to be affected in any way. In total, we find limited signs of damaging consequences aside of the general embarrassment and productivity loss as we clear services for production step by step,” the company stated.
It’s worth noting that not all ransomware attacks involve file-encrypting malware. In some cases, the attackers try to make a profit only by threatening to leak or sell data stolen from the victim.
Axis said on Sunday that most of its external-facing services had been restored, but the company will operate in a “restricted mode” until the forensic investigation prompted by the incident has been completed.
Related: University Project Cataloged 1,100 Ransomware Attacks on Critical Infrastructure
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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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