Boeing, one of the world’s leading defense and space contractors, has fallen victim to a cybercrime gang known as Lockbit. The gang, notorious for stealing and releasing data unless a ransom is paid, published internal data from Boeing online on Friday. The hackers had previously threatened to release the sensitive information unless Boeing paid a ransom by November 2nd.
Lockbit announced on their website that they had successfully published the data from Boeing in the early hours of Friday morning. However, Reuters has not been able to independently verify the authenticity of the files, most of which date back to late October.
Boeing confirmed that certain parts and distribution divisions of the company had experienced a cybersecurity incident. The aerospace giant acknowledged that a criminal ransomware actor had released information allegedly taken from their systems. Boeing assured that they are actively investigating the incident and will cooperate with law enforcement, regulatory authorities, and potentially affected parties.
While Boeing expressed confidence that the incident does not pose a threat to aircraft or flight safety, they did not comment on whether Lockbit had obtained defense or other sensitive data.
Lockbit ransomware, a group that emerged on Russian-language cybercrime forums in January 2020, has been targeting organizations worldwide. Cybersecurity firm Trend Micro described Lockbit as one of the most professional criminal gangs in the underground community. According to the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Lockbit has attacked approximately 1,700 organizations in the United States.
In a separate incident, the U.S. arm of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) recently fell victim to a ransomware attack that disrupted trades in the U.S. Treasury market. While several experts and analysts suspect Lockbit to be behind this attack as well, the gang’s dark web page, where they typically publish the names of their victims, did not mention ICBC.
The situation continues to develop, and Boeing remains focused on resolving the cybersecurity incident. The company is determined to work closely with authorities and take appropriate action to address any potential consequences.
