Emergency Operational Shutdown at Maxim, German Cosmetics Manufacturer

The cosmetics manufacturer Maxim fell victim to a ransomware attack, reports CSO Online Germany. The IT systems and production are affected. According to media reports, hackers penetrated the IT systems of the cosmetics manufacturer Maxim in early May. The cyber attack was initially discovered due to a "disruption to the network structure". The perpetrators encrypted parts of the IT systems and demanded a ransom. So far it is unclear whether company data was stolen.

As soon as the attack was discovered, all IT systems were shut down immediately, a spokeswoman told the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger . Because of the immediate shutdown, the ransom demand could not be seen, so it is not clear how much they asked for decrypting the hacked systems.

On May 10, company spokeswoman Janine Kops states that all IT systems and devices are currently being checked for malicious software. "The work is progressing rapidly and it is becoming apparent that the IT systems that are currently still deactivated will go into secure and monitored emergency operation this week," says Kops. The cyber attack at the end of April led to an emergency shutdown of the systems; since then, production and delivery at Maxim have been paralyzed.

A professional hacker group claimed responsibility for the attack on Maxim, but the spokeswoman declined to give any further details for security reasons.

Estimated Cost

Production and delivery paralyzed > 10days, cost unknown

Threat Source

Impacts

OT IT