Vesuvius

History

2023: Loss of $4.4 million due to cyber attack

On May 18, 2023, Vesuvius, the second largest manufacturer of industrial ceramics in Britain, reported losses of £3.5 million (approximately $4.36 million at the exchange rate as of May 19, 2023) as a result of an invasion by cybercriminals.

The cyber attack became known in early February 2023. Then it was said that the attackers were able to gain unauthorized access to the Vesuvius information infrastructure. Details about the incident were not disclosed. Therefore, it was not clear what tools the attackers used during the attack, or whether confidential information was stolen. However, representatives of Vesuvius said that due to the attack, the company was forced to disable a number of its IT systems in order to minimize damage.

Vesuvius reported losses of £3.5m as a result of cybercriminal intrusion

Immediately after we became aware of unauthorized activity on our networks, we took the necessary steps to investigate and respond to the incident, including shutting down affected systems, Vesuvius said.

Subsequently, the Vice Society ransomware group claimed responsibility for the cyber attack. Despite the fact that these attackers attack primarily organizations in the fields of health care and education, they also do not bypass the manufacturing industry. Among the goals of the Vice Society are enterprises in Brazil, Argentina, Switzerland and Israel. After a successful invasion of the victim's IT infrastructure, hackers steal information and demand a ransom, threatening to distribute the stolen files on the Internet.

The significant losses that Vesuvius suffered as a result of a cyber attack are associated precisely with the introduction of a ransomware. There is no information about the amount of the ransom requested by the Vice Society group. It is not clear whether Vesuvius agreed to the demands of the attackers to pay the ransom.^[1][2]

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