MKS Suspends Operations to Contain Ransomware Attack
MKS Instruments Inc is investigating a ransomware attack and is temporarily suspending operations at some of its facilities. “The incident has affected certain business systems, including production-related systems, and as part of the containment effort, the company has elected to temporarily suspend operations at certain of its facilities”, Kathleen F Burke, senior vice president, general counsel and secretary at MKS Instruments, said in the SEC filing.
The ransomware incident was reported just a day after national cybersecurity agencies and security experts around the world warned about a global ransomware attack that hit thousands of servers running on VMware ESxi.
Applied Materials, Samsung Electronics Co., Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. , Intel Corp. and ASML Holding NV are among MKS Instrument's customers. Applied Materials reported they will take a $250M hit to sales this quarter, thanks to a cyberattack at one of its (unidentified) suppliers.