Hackers target the world’s biggest cruise operator with ransomware
The P&O parent company says it expects that cyber criminals accessed the personal data of guests and employees
Hackers have targeted the world’s largest cruise lining company with ransomware, encrypting data from the firm that organises cruises under nine major brands including P&O and Princess Cruises.
Carnival Corporation & PLC has confirmed that hackers accessed a portion of one of its brand’s IT systems and downloaded some data files, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The cruise operator detected the attack on 15 August and took measures to secure its systems. The firm said it expects the security incident included unauthorised access to the personal data of both guests and employees, which may prompt action from guests, employees, shareholders, and regulators.
“Promptly upon its detection of the security event, the Company launched an investigation and notified law enforcement, and engaged legal counsel and other incident response professionals,” the filing said.
“While the investigation of the incident is ongoing, the Company has implemented a series of containment and remediation measures to address this situation and reinforce the security of its information technology systems.”
Despite targeting the company’s IT systems, Carnival Corporation doesn’t feel the incident will have a material impact on its business, operations or financial results. The news was revealed in an 8-K form, which is submitted when a company experiences an unscheduled event that could be key to shareholders, or the SEC.
This is the second major security incident that Carnival Corporation has disclosed this year, after two units disclosed in March that it was targeted by cyber criminals during May 2019. Holland America Line and Princess Cruises.
An investigation conducted by both units revealed unauthorised access to personal information, including names, social security numbers and the credit card information of some guests and employees, according to Reuters.
The units, which account for 30% of Carnival Corporation’s capacity as of 30 November, said they acted to shut down the attack quickly and prevent further access to data.
-
The EU is charting a course to digital independence with the technological sovereignty packageNews New legislation looks to shore up digital sovereignty and reduce reliance on foreign tech
-
Anthropic warns AI is helping lower the bar for up-and-coming hackersNews AI is making it harder to differentiate between high and low-skilled actors
-
Ransomware cartels are fragmenting into volatile splinter groups, warns Met Police cyber chiefNews Commoditized "cyber crime bazaars" and AI data mining are forcing law enforcement to rewrite its playbook
-
New ransomware threat group, The Gentlemen, has become one of the most active ransomware operators, accounting for 10% of all attacksNews NTT researchers warn that the RaaS group is leveraging SystemBC malware to establish covert tunnelling, evade detection, and support rapid lateral movement across enterprise environments
-
Instructure chose to a pay ransom following the Canvas cyber attack – research shows more than half of security leaders would follow suitAnalysis Opting to pay ransoms creates huge risks for enterprises – you’re relying on the word of criminals
-
Ransomware negotiator sentenced for role in major cyber crime groupNews Deniss Zolotarjovs was a key player in a group associated with Conti
-
Threat actors ditch ‘spray and pray’ attacks in shift to targeted exploitationNews A dip in ransomware volumes points to a more targeted approach focused on vulnerability exploitation
-
Security leaders overconfident about ransomware recovery
News Few manage to recover all their data, and many experience business disruption
-
German authorities want your help finding the hackers behind GandCrab and REvilNews Daniil Maksimovich Shchukin and Anatoly Sergeevitsch Kravchuk are believed to have made millions from ransomware as a service schemes
-
The rise of teen hackers ‘makes for a good headline’, but cyber crime activities peak later in life
News With family responsibilities and mortgages to pay, it's not teenagers dishing out malware or carrying out cyber extortion
