Royal Mail 'cyber-incident' hits overseas post

[elsiegee40]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64231473

[free780]

US internal flights had to stop.

 

There was an anydesk phishing site that appeared in the last 24 hours.

 

Very few people will have all the details I suspect.

[pete]

Lockbit ransomware and backups deleted:

 

https://www.ft.com/content/2ab26050-6b17-4b10-96d1-faeb664f4501

 

https://cyberplace.social/@GossiTheDog/109677167129278376

[mikeprice]

https://metro.co.uk/2023/01/13/us-flight-chaos-glitch-caused-by-engineer-who-accidentally-replaced-file-18093627/

 

Someone accidentally replaced a file with the wrong one

 

Hmmm - CLEARLY I have never done anything like that!!!!!

 

however, I would not be blaming the person who replaced the file

more looking at why they were able to replace such a clearly critical file on such a critical system wrongly in the first place

 

AT one point I was moaned at for making a common procedure so pedantic - I had 2 different confirmation prompts - one with responses that were not always the same so they had to read the prompt

 

 

this shows why I did it

 

Oh - and to stop me getting phone calls at 2 in the morning - that was also a consideration

[Koldov]

I haven't seen anything about this on the television news so I thought it was all sorted out now...

 

Went to post a birthday card to my father (who lives in Spain) yesterday and the Post Office counter staff refused to even accept it into the system!

 

I wonder if they would have just sold me the stamps and I guess I could have then just dropped it into a post box....

[smurfomatic]

Had to send a parcel to France yesterday - returning something I ordered that was damaged - and the Post Office had to check they could accept it. As it was a Parcelforce label rather than Royal Mail, it was fine

[Arthur]

Royal Mail dismisses ‘absurd’ $80m ransom demand

 

Royal Mail rejected an “absurd” ransom demand for $80m (£67m) from hackers linked to Russia, according to transcripts that offer a rare glimpse into negotiations when companies are hit by a ransomware cyberattack.

 

The delivery company has been battling a ransomware attack since January, when the LockBit group hacked into its software and blocked international shipments by encrypting files crucial to the company’s operations.

 

Chat transcripts released on the dark web, apparently by LockBit, show how the two sides traded blows in the negotiation that followed, with Royal Mail fending off increasingly aggressive demands that it was “time to pay”.

 

Nearly two weeks after the talks began, a LockBit hacker set a ransom of $80m, which they claimed was equal 0.5% of the company’s revenue, in exchange for decrypting the files.

 

LockBit said this would cost less than the fine that Royal Mail could receive from the Information Commissioner’s Office, if it were to become public that the company had failed to protect its data.

 

Under EU data protection laws, retained after Brexit, companies can be fined up to 4% of their annual revenue if they lose personal data.

 

“As long as we haven’t published any of your files, you can’t be fined,” the LockBit hacker said.

 

“If you can negotiate with us, the government will be left without your $640m.”

 

Royal Mail’s negotiator pointed out that the hackers appeared to be confusing the parcel service’s revenue with the larger turnover reported by its parent company, International Distribution Services (IDS).

 

“All we have had is losses. Here, you can read about it yourself,” wrote the Royal Mail negotiator, sending a link to a Guardian article from October that warned of 10,000 potential job cuts and £450m of losses in the struggling letter delivery business, which has been rocked by strikes.

 

LockBit refused to accept the explanation and accused the company’s negotiator of “bluffing”, speculating that the company’s directors probably held £100m of cryptocurrency personally that could “finish this nightmare”.

 

But on 28 January, Royal Mail’s board delivered a withering response to the demands.

 

“Under no circumstances will we pay you the absurd amount of money you have demanded,” the company said.

 

“We have repeatedly tried to explain to you we are not the large entity you have assumed we are, but rather a smaller subsidiary without the resources you think we have. But you continue to refuse to listen to us.