A Cyberattack on Garmin Disrupted More Than Workouts

[InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>]

https://www.wired.com/story/garmin-outage-ransomware-attack-workouts-aviation/

By Lily Hay Newman
Security
Wired.com
July 27, 2020

ON THURSDAY, HACKERS hit the navigation and fitness giant Garmin with a 
ransomware attack that took down numerous services across the company. 
Garmin Connect, the cloud platform that syncs user activity data, went 
dark, as did portions of Garmin.com. But as athletes found themselves 
unable to record runs and workouts, pilots who use Garmin products for 
position, navigation, and timing services in airplanes were dealing with 
their own problems.

The flyGarmin and Garmin Pilot app both suffered days-long outages, 
hindering some Garmin hardware used in planes, including flight-planning 
mechanisms and the ability to update mandatory FAA aeronautical databases. 
Garmin, which waited until Monday to confirm that a cyberattack caused the 
trouble, also saw its corporate email systems and customer call centers 
hobbled by the assault. (Throughout the weekend, emails to Garmin public 
relations staffers bounced back and phone calls wouldn't connect.) Some 
reports indicate that Garmin's ActiveCaptain maritime app also suffered 
outages.

Garmin's services started to flicker back online on Monday, four days 
after the outages began. The incident underscores the pressing threat 
ransomware continues to pose across industries, though, particularly when 
it can disrupt services that millions of people rely on.

[...]



--
Subscribe to InfoSec News
https://www.infosecnews.org/subscribe-to-infosec-news/
Follow InfoSec News on Twitter
https://twitter.com/infosecnews_
Follow InfoSec News on LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/company/infosecnews/