Tag Archive for: Mail

Royal Mail restores global shipping weeks after LockBit ransomware attack

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U.K. postal giant Royal Mail says it has finally restored international shipping after a ransomware attack downed its export services for over a month.

Royal Mail spokesperson Mark Street told TechCrunch on Thursday that it has reinstated international export services to all destinations for purchase online and at Post Office branches. “We are now processing close to normal daily volumes of international export mail with some delays,” Street said. In an incident update dated February 23, Royal Mail noted a “small number” of international untracked services for business contract customers continue to face some disruption.

Royal Mail faced severe disruption for six weeks after a January 10 cyberattack left the company unable to dispatch certain items overseas. While the organization had reinstated most online services in recent weeks, Royal Mail could not, until now, process international parcels at its 11,500 Post Office branches.

According to the BBC, Royal Mail ships to 231 countries and territories worldwide and shipped more than 150 million parcels overseas in the past year.

Royal Mail’s long-awaited service update comes as the Russia-linked LockBit ransomware gang, whose high-profile victims have also included NHS vendor Advanced, published some of the data it stole from Royal Mail on its dark web leak site. The prolific ransomware gang initially threatened to publish all stolen data on February 9.

The 45 gigabyte data dump published by LockBit, reviewed by TechCrunch, doesn’t appear to include sensitive customer or financial information, though it does contain at least one employee’s COVID-19 vaccination details.

“Royal Mail is aware that an unauthorized third-party has published some data allegedly obtained from our network,” Street told TechCrunch. “At this stage of the investigation, we believe that the vast majority of this data is made up of technical program files and administrative business data. All of the evidence suggests that this data contains no financial information or other sensitive customer information. We continue to work closely with law enforcement agencies.”

Earlier this week, LockBit published what it claimed…

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Royal Mail overseas parcels ban 'costing me hundreds of pounds' – BBC

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Royal Mail overseas parcels ban ‘costing me hundreds of pounds’  BBC

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When will the Royal Mail cyber attack be fixed? What we know about how hack affects international deliveries

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Royal Mail has confirmed that a cyber attack is to blame for ongoing disruption to postal services.

The attack is believed to have already left more than half a million letters and parcels stuck in limbo, according to reports last week.

The attack is suspected to have come from a Russian-linked ransomware gang called Lockbit, though this is yet to be confirmed.

Here’s how the attack is affecting postal services, and when Royal Mail says it will be fixed.

How is the cyber attack affecting post?

Royal Mail is continuing to ask customers not to post items overseas while it investigates the cyber attack.

The company said it was experiencing “severe disruption” to its international export services and is temporarily unable to dispatch items abroad.

A Royal Mail distribution centre in Northern Ireland revealed its printers began “spurting” out copies of a ransom note on Tuesday, saying “your data are stolen and encrypted”.

In a statement issued on Monday, Royal Mail said: “To support faster recovery when our service is restored and to prevent a build-up of export items in our network, we’re asking customers not to post international items until further notice.”

“Items that have already been dispatched may be subject to delays.”

The company has been hit by disruption in recent months, with postal workers staging walkouts in a long-running dispute over jobs, pay, pensions and conditions.

It has caused havoc for businesses who rely on the delivery services, with major retailers such as Moonpig, Card Factory and Asos partially blaming the strikes for a drop in sales towards the end of 2022.

When will the cyber attack be fixed?

Simon Thompson, chief executive of Royal Mail, told a parliamentary select committee on Tuesday: “We’ve confirmed that we’ve had a cyber attack.”

He was unable to provide a date for when the issue will be resolved, telling MPs: “The team have been working on workarounds so that we can get the service up and running again.”

He added there would be “more news to share” soon.

Mr Thompson said he could not discuss any details of the attack, saying it would be “detrimental” to the ongoing investigation.

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Royal Mail hit by Russia-linked ransomware attack

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Royal Mail sorting office

Royal Mail sorting office

Severe disruption to Royal Mail’s overseas deliveries has been caused by ransomware linked to Russian criminals, the BBC has been told.

The cyber-attack has affected the computer systems Royal Mail uses to despatch deliveries abroad.

Royal Mail has been warning customers since Wednesday of disruption due to a “cyber-incident”.

Its latest advice is for people not to try to send international letters and parcels until the issue is resolved.

Ransomware is malicious computer software that encrypts data and locks up systems.

The ransomware used in the attack is “Lockbit”, according to a source close to the investigation.

Computer security firms say the software has been developed and used by criminal gangs with links to Russia.

BBC cyber reporter Joe Tidy has seen a ransom note sent by the criminals to Royal Mail which reads: “Your data are stolen and encrypted’.

The ransom demand is expected to be in the millions, although sources close to the investigation say there are “workarounds” to get the system going again.

Ransomware attacks are a persistent threat to organisations around the world over with attacks happening on a nearly daily basis.

But this situation is highly significant, as Royal Mail is what is deemed “critical national infrastructure” – that is, it is critical to the UK economy.

The attack is not just affecting one company and its customers, but the communications and businesses of citizens at home and abroad.

Ransomware crews typically ramp up pressure on firms to transfer funds in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin to an anonymous digital wallet.

They will have a deadline and are likely to be threatening Royal Mail with the prospect of having potentially sensitive data published.

LockBit is thought to have strong Russian roots but the hacker that carried out the attack could be anywhere.

Last November a Canadian/Russian man was arrested for allegedly carrying out LockBit hacks from Canada.

A Royal Mail spokesman declined to comment on whether the attack was ransomware, but repeated warnings to customers that there is no end in sight to delivery disruption.

The firm is still unable to send letters and parcels overseas and says it is “working hard”…

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