Christmas 2019 went sour for a few of the staff members of the Albany International Airport as a ransomware attack is reported to have encrypted the entire database of the airport forcing the authorities to pay a ransom to a threat actor in exchange of the decryption key.
News is now out that the malware actually encrypted the database of LogicalNet, an IT firm managing all digital services of the airport. As a result of which the staff witnessed disruption for hours on the day of Christmas 2019.
An official confirmation made on January 9th, 2020 says that the IT firm had to negotiate the ransom with hackers and paid a six-figure amount in cryptocurrency to gain back access to the systems after which the staff of Albany Airport severed ties with LogicalNet and made a new contract with ABS Solutions to redesign its server related infrastructure on an internal note.
Phil Calderone, the CEO of Logical Net confirmed the incident and said that it was the responsibility of LogicalNet to take the airport services provider out of the digital crisis.
However, Tush Nikolaj, the CEO of LogicalNet condemned the way the airport authorities put the blame and ended their ties even though it is a shared responsibility.
Officials at the Albany Airport have informed the details of the cyber incident to the New York State Cyber Command and FBI and officially disclosed that all necessary measures were taken that the air travelers never felt the impact.
Cybersecurity Insiders has learned the fact that the ransomware spreading gang managed to lock down access to data related to archives, legal and administrative procedures and a small portion related to HR. Kindly note that no customer details or card information were impacted in the incident.
