The news
AP Moller-Maersk is investigating unauthorized access to a legacy IT system inherited through an earlier acquisition, after data was taken from it. The Danish carrier said its findings “strongly suggest no sensitive data has been disclosed.”
Maersk said it found no evidence of an impact on its other systems or on customer and partner systems connected through APIs and EDI.
Customers can continue booking and managing shipments as usual, the company said. It advised them to check any unexpected messages about the incident with their usual Maersk contact.
Why it matters: Maersk says the incident is isolated to one old local system, so its wider operations, including bookings and connected customer systems, keep running.
The details
A ransomware group called WhiteArmor claims to have stolen about 100GB of data from a platform developed by LF Logistics, which Maersk acquired in 2022. The group is reportedly demanding $5 million in bitcoin within 30 days.
WhiteArmor claims the data includes nearly 30,000 driver records, passwords, administrator accounts, delivery records and inventory data.
Neither the group’s claims nor their connection to the legacy system identified by Maersk has been independently verified.
Maersk bought Hong Kong-based contract logistics company LF Logistics from Li & Fung for $3.6 billion.
Maersk suffered a much wider cyberattack in 2017, when NotPetya malware crippled its global IT systems. Other container carriers and ports in Japan and Australia have also suffered cyberattacks since then.
Maersk estimated that NotPetya would cost it about $300 million.
The company rebuilt 4,000 servers, 45,000 PCs and 2,500 applications in 10 days, then-chair Jim Hagemann Snabe said in 2018.
What’s next
Maersk said it will keep customers updated as the investigation progresses and notify anyone affected if necessary.
(Photo: Wolfgang Weiser / Unsplash)
