Pitney Bowes, a mailing equipment and services company based in Stamford, Connecticut, has been hit by ransomware.
The company says that no customer data has been compromised in the attack. According to the official statement, the company experienced an “outage” that affected their SendPro products, postage refill, and Your Account access. Initial indications are this is a third-party attack on Pitney Bowes’ systems.
Pitney Bowes Ransomware Attack Details
“Upon discovery of the cyberattack, we immediately assembled our Enterprise Outage Response Team to address the situation. We continue to work with third party security experts to resolve the issues,” the statement said.
Even though no client data appears to be affected, many of the company’s online services are inaccessible as a result of the attack. Customers’ access to the postage supply web store is currently unavailable as we all the ability to automatically upload envelope-printing transactions from machines which in normal circumstances happens at least once a day.
These systems specifically are not working:
-Software and Data Marketplace downloads are unavailable;
-Your Account and some of the product support pages are unavailable.
“If you have funds on your meter you will be able to process mail,” the company also says, adding that “until the system is restored you will not be able to refill your system.”
Pitney Bowes Customers’ Reactions
Expectedly, the company’s customers have expressed their discontent. Some of them even noted that the attack and outage of Pitney Bowes’ services happens at a time critical for IRS tax fillings. It appears that Tuesday was the deadline for taxpayers who requested a filing extension for their 2018 US tax return.
It is noteworthy that Pitney Bowes processes 16,5 billion pieces of mail each year. It also runs presorting facilities that handle packages and mail directed at the U.S. Postal System. Unfortunately, these systems have also been affected by the ransomware attack and the extent of the impact is yet to be determined.
The threat of ransomware continues to persist this year. According to data gathered by Anomali and The Harris Poll, ransomware attacks 1 in 5 Americans. The survey was based on responses from more than 2,000 American citizens.
It turns out that more Americans than previously suspected have dealt with ransomware. Survey results show that roughly 1 in 5 Americans, or about 21 percent, have been involved in a ransomware attack on a personal or work device, and in some cases on both.
But ransomware doesn’t spare enterprises, either. According to RiskSense data, “ransomware cost businesses more than $8 billion in 2018. As a benchmark, the City of Atlanta which was hit by SamSam last year, incurred costs estimated to be in the range of $17 million.” The RiskSense report highlights the vulnerabilities that ransomware utilizes the most in attacks against companies and organizations.
Milena Dimitrova
An inspired writer and content manager who has been with SensorsTechForum since the project started. A professional with 10+ years of experience in creating engaging content. Focused on user privacy and malware development, she strongly believes in a world where cybersecurity plays a central role. If common sense makes no sense, she will be there to take notes. Those notes may later turn into articles! Follow Milena @Milenyim
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