Customers of a courier and freight firm that has two offices in Christchurch are experiencing disruption and delays after the company’s website was targeted in a cyber-attack.
Toll Group received a ‘targeted ransomware attack’ on January 21, which it is still attempting to resolve.
The attack is a new variant of the Mailto ransomware, a well-known virus.
About 1000 servers (computers) were affected.
On the company’s website, it states a decision was made immediately after the attack to isolate and disable some systems to contain the spread of the attack.
As a result, manual systems were introduced to continue to meet customer demands.
“Some customers are experiencing delays or disruption to their deliveries as we have to rely on manual processes and systems to operate. As we are temporarily having to enter freight data manually, there is some delay in delivery status information. We are working to address these issues and continue to focus on bringing these IT systems back online securely," said a statement on the company’s website.
“We became aware of the issue on Friday, 31 January, and, as soon as it came to light, we moved quickly to disable the relevant systems and initiate a detailed investigation to understand the cause and put in place measures to deal with it. We’ve been working around the clock since then to mitigate the impact and ensure customers can continue to access services, although some are experiencing delay or disruption."
At this stage, there is no evidence to suggest any customer data has been compromised.
"We have shared samples of the relevant variant with law enforcement, the Australian Cyber Security Centre, and cybersecurity organisations to ensure the wider community is protected. There continues to be no indication that any personal data has been lost as a result of the ransomware attack on our It systems."
Toll Group operates by road, rail sea, air and in warehousing.
It has three divisions - Global Express, Global Forwarding and Global Logistics.
“In our global freight forwarding business, business continuity plans have been implemented and manual processes initiated to minimise customer impact. We continue to move international air and ocean freight shipments and, where possible, perform customs clearance albeit at a reduced pace,” said the company's website.
An increased number of staff are working at the company’s contact centres to assist customers.
