AGCO ransomware attack disrupts tractor sales during U.S. planting season
May 6 (Reuters) – U.S. agricultural equipment maker AGCO Corp (AGCO.N) said on Friday a ransomware attack was affecting operations at some of its production facilities, and dealers said tractor sales had been stalled during the crucial planting season.
Georgia-based AGCO said in a statement it expects operations at some facilities to be affected for “several days and potentially longer.”
The ransomware attack comes at a time U.S. agricultural equipment makers were already facing persistent supply chain disruptions and labor strikes that left them unable to meet equipment demand from farmers. read more
Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com
AGCO did not disclose the names of the facilities or if any data was stolen, but said it was still probing the extent of the attack that occurred on Thursday and working to repair its systems.
Tim Brannon, president and owner of B&G Equipment Inc in Tennessee, told Reuters he has not been able to access AGCO’s website for ordering and looking up parts since Thursday morning.
“We just have to trust that it will be over as soon as possible because we are coming into our busiest time of the year and it will be very damaging to our business and customers,” Brannon said.
AGCO, which competes with larger rival Deere & Co (DE.N), sells tractors and combines, manufactures and assembles products in 42 locations worldwide with 1,810 dealerships in North America.
Dealers are now struggling to keep up with orders that were already backlogged.
The company told dealers that it was “prioritizing” the most business critical systems in an e-mail read to Reuters by a dealer who declined to be identified.
“I’ve got about nine orders that I need to place right now,” said the dealer.
He said AGCO told him “digital systems” had been impacted worldwide.
AGCO did not respond to requests for additional comment.
AGCO’s shares were down 6% at $125.55 in late afternoon trading.
Ransomware attacks have targeted food and fuel companies in the United States in recent years, including the Colonial Pipeline’s oil network and meat processing company JBS (JBSS3.SA). Last autumn, at least three grain handlers in the Midwest were hit with ransomware attacks. read more
Source…
Chinese court finds Gionee guilty of planting malware on more than 20 million units
The Chinese court has published a verdict on a case involving the Chinese smartphone maker Gionee. It seems that Gionee planted a Trojan Horse on more than 20 million devices to money from unsolicited ads and other malicious activities without the user’s knowledge.
The Shenzhen Zhipu Technology Co. Ltd., which is a subsidiary of Gionee, has implanted a Trojan Horse through a software update using the so-called “Story Lock Screen” app. The first devices infected with the “Dark Horse Program” were in December 2018. The job was carried out until October 2019 and for that period, the company is said to have earned around $4.2 million, affecting 21.75 million smartphones. The expenses for that period are just a little below $1.3 million.
Xu Li, Zhu Ying, Jia Zhengqiang and Pan Qi were found guilty in the process of illegally controlling mobile devices and are sentenced from 3 to 3.5 years in prison along with a CNY 200,000 (~$30,000) fine each.
Although shocking, this seems to be a common practice with cheap Chinese smartphones and other companies were also found guilty of the same malicious activity, Infinix and Tecno are one of them.
U.S. citizen sues Ethiopian gov’t for planting spyware – SC Magazine – SC Magazine
SC Magazine |
U.S. citizen sues Ethiopian gov't for planting spyware – SC Magazine
SC Magazine A U.S. citizen is suing the Ethiopian government for planting spyware on his personal computer and for illegal wiretapping. |
US citizen sues Ethiopian gov’t for planting spyware – SC Magazine
SC Magazine |
US citizen sues Ethiopian gov't for planting spyware
SC Magazine The Ethiopian-born U.S. citizen using the pseudonym Mr. Kidane filed a lawsuit in federal court accusing the Ethiopian government of infecting his computer with FinSpy malware and for invading his privacy, according to court documents. Kidane is a … |