Bandwidth: We defeated ‘unprecedented’ ransomware hack in ‘running gun battle’

RALEIGH – Hackers did indeed attack Raleigh-based communications provider Bandwidth seeking a ransom, but its CEO said the company didn’t pay and ultimately defeated what he called an “unprecedented” assault and “running gun battle.”

CEO David Morken briefed Wall Street Analysts in a conference call Monday after Bandwidth reported quartertly earnings and formally acknowledged losing as much as $12 million as a result of the September hack described as a DDOS, or distributed denial of service.

Bandwidth had denied to even acknowledge that the cyber attack was indeed ransomeware before Monday’s call.

“We did not pay a ransom and instead relied on innovative solutions and strategies to confront the threat, head on. To sum up, we believe, Bandwidth is now stronger than ever and we plan to leverage what we’ve learned to help make the ecosystem safer for enterprise communications,” he said.

Learning from the attack, Bandwidth has deployed additional safeguards – what he called prophylactic security” – against future hacks, he added.

Ransomware attacks, which have soared in recent years, have led to payoffs as much as $67 million plus inflict remediation cosots on average totalling more than $2 million.

Bandwidth projects bigger revenue loss from hack attack, stock drops

“It is a small price to pay right now as a prophylactic security to have that additional nominal step at the beginning of a user experience,” Morken explained.

Bandwidth is a global provider of communications services such as 911 access to a host of tech giants.

Bandwidth’s customers include Microsoft, Google, Zoom and many others that utilize internet-based services in Bandwidth’s product portfolio.

Morken also sought to assure analysts that the company, whose stock (Nasdaq: BAND) is down nearly 50% this year due in part to the attack, is regaining some customers who turned to other service providers in the VoIP [voice over internet protocol] marketplace for voice and data as Bandwidth suffered outages and service delays.

“Those conversations [with customers], unexpectedly have become extremely positive regarding Bandwidth being the most resilient and best place to…