Deutsche Windtechnik, a German wind turbine manufacturer, has warned that parts of its IT systems were hacked in a targeted professional cyber-attack early this month. According to the business, the event, which occurred on April 11, prompted incident responders to turn off remote data monitoring connections to the wind turbines for security concerns. Deutsche Windtechnik disclosed that the links were reopened two days later.
“We are very happy that the wind turbines that we look after did not suffer any damage and were never in danger,” said the company in a statement.
On April 14, Deutsche Windtechnik was also able to restart client operational repair activities with minimal limitations. According to the company, all of its IT systems were reviewed in a secure environment, and the problems were found and isolated. In addition, the wind turbine behemoth has enhanced the security of its systems as a result of the event.
“The forensic analysis has been completed and the result has shown that this was a targeted professional cyberattack,” said Deutsche Windtechnik. The company declares its systems have not yet been fully restored.
While Deutsche Windtechnik did not specify what form of malware the company was the victim of, ransomware is a strong possibility, albeit no known ransomware groups have claimed responsibility. According to Wall Street Journal, Deutsche Windtechnik lost control of nearly 2,000 turbines because of the attack. The company got infected with ransomware, but succeeded in restoring its systems without contacting the attackers.
Furthermore, the strike on Deutsche Windtechnik occurred just after the Conti ransomware criminal organization targeted Nordex SE, a manufacturer of wind turbines. After Viasat’s satellite network was hacked in early March, wind turbine maker Enercon GmbH lost remote communication to around 5,800 turbines.
