Vestas Wind Systems, a global leader in wind turbine manufacture, has shut down its IT systems after a cyberattack.
Vestas is a prominent North American wind turbine producer, installer, and service provider, with 40,000 MW installed and 36,000+ MW in under service in the United States and Canada.
The company stated that on Friday, November 19th, they were attacked, compelling them to shut down IT systems across numerous business divisions and locations in order to prevent the attack from spreading.
Customers, staff, and other stakeholders may be impacted as a result of the interruption, and some Vestas facilities have been compelled to reduce output.
Vestas stated it's still trying to restore the integrity of its IT systems in a blog post published on the company's website, but it doesn't have a timeline for doing so.
Vestas also admitted that some data had been breached, implying that the hackers had been able to steal data from the hacked systems.
Vesta disclosed in a new statement, "The company's preliminary findings indicate that the incident has impacted parts of Vestas' internal IT infrastructure and that data has been compromised. At this stage, the work and investigation are still ongoing."
The corporation also stated that the impact on manufacturing, construction, and service has been limited.
While Vestas hasn't specified what kind of hack they were hit with, the description seems like a ransomware attack.
The firm has been contacted by BleepingComputer for further information regarding the event and whether the hackers are seeking a ransom, but they are yet to get a response.
Rising attacks on critical infrastructure
Vestas employs 25,000 people and has production sites in 16 countries, with a revenue of over a billion USD each year.
As countries accelerate the adoption of pollution-reduction policies and roll out renewable energy investment programs, Vestas has a crucial role in fulfilling such services.
As a result, interrupting the manufacturing, installation, and maintenance processes might have a severe impact on regions that rely on wind turbines for power.
Vestas was already dealing with supply chain challenges and rising material prices, so this cyberattack comes at an especially inconvenient moment.
As ransomware gangs ramp up their operations in search of higher payments, critical infrastructure has become increasingly vulnerable to cyberattacks.
Ireland's Health Service Executive, meat manufacturer JBS, and US gasoline pipeline Colonial Pipeline have all been targets of previous attacks on key infrastructure.
