Garmin Hit by 4-Day Ransomware Attack
The navigation company became the victim of a ransomware attack on Thursday. The attack left many Garmin systems offline, including fitness apps, aircraft navigation systems, and customer service centers. Garmin factories had to close production lines, and planes that use Garmin navigation were grounded.
The attack completely crippled the navigation company. A cybersecurity company reported that Garmin’s IT department shut down all the company’s computers, including employee computers at home. Anything connected to the Garmin network, even by VPN, was cut off to stop the ransomware from spreading through the network.
10 Million dollar ransom
Garmin employees say that the attack was due to WastedLocker ransomware. The hackers encrypted a large number of company files, with a ransom note attached to each file. The ransom note has directions to email one of two email addresses to get a price for the encrypted data. Garmin has confirmed that the price was $10 Million for the decryption key.
The attack lasted 4 days, with Garmin systems becoming operational again on Monday (July 27th). Currently, it is not known whether Garmin paid the $10 Million, but the real price was paid in the number of lost profits from 4 days of operation.
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