US Navy Contractor Fincantieri Marine Group Hit by Cyber-attack

A US commercial and defense shipbuilder with ties to the government was hit by a ransomware attack on April 12.

Fincantieri Marine Group (FMG) acknowledged the incident in a statement to USNI News last week, saying it affected its email server and some network operations.

“Fincantieri Marine Group experienced a cybersecurity incident last week that is causing a temporary disruption to certain computer systems on its network,” reads the statement.

“The company’s network security officials immediately isolated systems and reported the incident to relevant agencies and partners. Fincantieri brought in additional resources to investigate the incident and to restore full functionality to the affected systems as quickly as possible.”

The company – a subsidiary of Italy-based Fincantieri SpA – also clarified that it has no evidence that employees’ personal information was affected.

“This ransomware attack on the Fincantieri Marinette Marine shipyard disrupted operations across the shipyard by rendering data on network servers unusable, impacting critical CNC [Computer Numerical Control] manufacturing machines,” commented Carol Volk, chief marketing officer at cybersecurity solution provider BullWall.

“This highlights the potential impact of cyber attacks on industrial control systems and the need for robust detection mechanisms to identify and respond to such threats promptly. Even if data theft did not occur, the disruption caused by the attack can have significant operational and financial implications.”

Read more on OT attacks here: Almost Half of Industrial Sector Computers Affected By Malware in 2022

According to Roy Akerman, CEO of cloud protection firm Rezonate, the company has recently observed ransomware attacks aimed at diverting attention from objectives such as propagating through the network or creating backdoors for other more lucrative motivations.

“Especially here, in the case of the US Navy, where there is an increased risk of ransomware being the first visible risk while other true intentions remain stealthy,” Akerman added.

The disclosure of the FMG attack comes days after a UK security agency warned of “state-aligned” Russian groups that could launch destructive attacks on critical national infrastructure.

Editorial image credit: T. Schneider / Shutterstock.com