Naval shipbuilder Austal USA investigating a cyber attack on its internal systems

Global ship building company Austal Limited has acknowledged that it suffered a serious cyber security incident that affected the operations of its US division.

The American subsidiary of Austal is a prime vendor for the U.S. Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security, building Independence Class littoral combat ships for the U.S. Navy.

 

Headquartered in Alabama, the shipbuilding group also manufactures the U.S. Coast Guard’s Heritage-class Offshore Patrol Cutters, ocean surveillance ships, towing, salvage and rescue ships, expeditionary medical ships, Spearhead-class Expeditionary Fast Transport boats and auxiliary floating dry docks for the U.S. Navy.

Recently, a group of threat actors calling themselves “Hunters International” claimed responsibility for a major cyber attack on Austal USA and listed the company as a victim on its dark web site. According to a screenshot shared by BleepingComputer, the ransomware group has shared some sample data, allegedly stolen from the company, to support its claims.

Acknowledging the threat actors’ claims, a spokesperson for the company said in a statement shared with the media that “Austal USA recently discovered a data incident. We were able to quickly mitigate the incident resulting in no impact on operations.”

“Regulatory authorities, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) were promptly informed and remain involved in investigating the cause of the situation and the extent of information that was accessed.

“No personal or classified information was accessed or taken by the threat actor. We are working closely with the appropriate authorities and will continue to inform any stakeholders impacted by the incident as we learn new information.

“Austal USA recognises the seriousness of this event and the special responsibility we have as a DoD and DHS contractor. Our assessment is on-going as we seek to fully understand this incident so that we can prevent a similar occurrence,” the spokesperson added.

Austal USA is yet to provide details about how the threat actors infiltrated its internal network or the nature of the data stolen from the company.

Earlier this year, Fincantieri Marine Group, one of the world’s largest shipbuilding groups, also suffered a major ransomware attack that disrupted almost all facets of its operations. 

 

Acknowledging press reports about a security incident, the commercial and defence shipbuilder said that the incident affected its email server and network operations, causing a temporary disruption by rendering data on network servers unusable.