The US leg of an Australia-based shipbuilding company, Austal, which is a contractor for the US Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security, recently alerted the FBI and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) of a cyberattack.
The cyberattack was claimed by the Hunters International ransomware group, which leaked stolen information as proof of the breach on its website on the Dark Web.
A company spokesperson stated that Austal was able to mitigate the breach and there was no impact to operations. An investigation is underway to determine the cause and scope of the breach as well as the type of information that was accessed, though the spokesperson did note that no personal or classified information was taken by the threat actors.
The ransomware and extortion group, which has over a dozen victims from various areas of the world across a variety of sectors, has threatened to release more data stolen from Austal such as financial details, engineering data, and compliance documents, among other files.
“Austal USA recognizes the seriousness of this event and the special responsibility we have as a DoD and DHS contractor,” the Austal USA spokesperson stated. “Our assessment is on-going as we seek to fully understand this incident so that we can prevent a similar occurrence.”
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