Special-Purpose Vehicle Maker Aebi Schmidt Hit by Malware

The special-purpose vehicle maker Aebi Schmidt was hit by a malware attack that disrupted some of its operations.

The Aebi Schmidt Group is a manufacturer of product systems and services for the management, cleaning and clearance of traffic areas as well as for the maintenance of green areas in demanding terrain.

Aebi Schmidt focuses on manufacturing agricultural, municipal and other special-purpose vehicles, including snow blowers, street cleaners, and other machinery used in airports.

On Thursday Aebi Schmidt announced that its systems had been hit by a malware-based cyberattack. The incident caused the disruption of some of its operations, such as email management.

The malware only infected Windows systems, in response to the incident the company temporarily switched off these systems.

“The IT system failure is due to an attempt by third parties to infiltrate malware into our systems. More and more companies worldwide are being affected by such attacks.” reads a note published by the company on its website.

The company notified the incident to customers and business partners, it asked them to contact it via phone until its email systems are restored.

Fortunately, the cyber attack has not impacted production systems, order processing, US-based M-B Companies, or its telematics platform.

Windows systems are currently being “rebooted step by step,” but the process could be “time consuming.”

Aebi Schmidt did not share technical details of the cyber attack, but according to TechCrunch, the company was hit by a ransomware.

“Aebi Schmidt, a European manufacturing giant with operations in the U.S., has been hit by a ransomware attack, TechCrunch has learned. ” reads the post published by TechCrunch. “Schiess [spokesperson Thomas Schiess  ] would not comment on claims of ransomware specifically, but the source said staff were told during an all-hands meeting Wednesday that the incident was a “ransomware attack.” “

Recently another major European company was hit by ransomware, the aluminum giant Norsk Hydro suffered an extensive cyber attack that impacted operations in several of the company’s business areas across Europe and the U.S. The company estimated more than $40 million losses in the first week following the ransomware attack that disrupted its operations.

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Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – Aebi Schmidt, ransomware)

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