Antonio Manaytay Tech 10.28.2022 10:Oct AM EDT

Aurubis AG Forced to Shutdown IT Systems After Cyberattack

A cyberattack overnight had forced Europe's biggest copper producer Aurubis AG to shut down its IT systems.

Aurubis said on Friday, Oct. 28, it has already conducted a cyber security assessment to identify the information assets affected by the attack. The company did not give more details.

In cyber security parlance, the information assets include hardware, laptops, systems, intellectual property, and customer data.

Aurubis AG Shares Fall

After the overnight attack, Bloomberg reported that the company's shares fell up to 4.2 percent. The shares hit the lowest 63.16 EUR on Friday morning and bounced back to 64.60 EUR later in the day.

The Hamburg-based company is listed on the stock exchange. Europe's biggest copper producer, it is the largest in recycling copper worldwide.

Rising Threat

Cyberattacks have forced industrial companies around the world to face it as a rising threat to production and supply lines.

In 2019, aluminum producer Norsk Hydro ASA had to resort to manual operations after a ransomware attack hit it.

Also, the pharmaceutical company Merck & Co. lost some $1.3 billion in the 2017 cyberattack.

Several companies in the manufacturing sector have suffered severely from cyberattacks forcing them to trim down their production processes.

Although Aurubis had appeared to weather the attack, it forced the copper producer to cut back its gas usage and find alternative supplies elsewhere.

The company is starting to decrease its purchases of Russian copper, Bloomberg reported.

'Without Russian Cathodes'

Aurubis AG CEO Roland Harings assured all the company's clients of meeting all its "commitments in metal supply in the next calendar year and thereafter without Russian cathodes."

Russian cathodes refer to copper cathodes that correspond to the highest Russian grade of copper.

Europe, Harings said, does not need Russian metals such as copper without elaborating.

No Longer Safe From Cyberattacks

In the past, manufacturing companies had the notion that their sector was safe from cyberattacks. But that notion was shattered, forcing companies to face the reality that no one is safe anymore.

This reality came to light in 2017. The attack gradually increased. And in 2019, the manufacturing sector landed in eighth place as the most targeted industry.

Despite the prevalence of the cybersecurity threat to the industry, many companies have either remained unaware or continue to deny the risks.

300% Increase

The threat of cyberattacks against the manufacturing sector heightened in 2020 during the pandemic.

The Covid pandemic has caught everyone unprepared except the cyber attackers targeting manufacturing companies.

During the pandemic, according to the 2021 Global Threat Intelligence Report (GTIR), the attack against the manufacturing sector increased by 300 percent.

The manufacturing sector jumped from the eighth spot to number two, next to the insurance and finance sector.

Top 3 Cyber Threats

Most manufacturing companies lack knowledge and training on cybersecurity, which is the biggest cyber threat of all.

BitLyf listed the top three cyber threats the manufacturing sector is facing. Below are the seven cyber threats:

1. Phishing. This type of attack is the oldest and most commonly deployed by cybercriminals. Many people have already known how phishing works, but most of them do not know the method has advanced.

Within the company, phishing emails look like any ordinary internal emails or from companies doing business with the company. A simple click on these emails can give hackers the door into the network. Once inside the network unnoticed, they will access the information these hackers need to complete the attack.

2. Ransomware. It is a type of malware capable of encrypting files on a target network. These files will be rendered unusable until the hackers have completed all the information they need to launch the attack. Then, the attackers will threaten to sell or leak the sensitive data they got if the target will not pay the ransom.

3. Internal breaches. Threat actors do not necessarily mean they come from outside the network or organization. While most of the cyber attacks come from outside, almost a third of the threat actors come from within. Like the external attackers, the motive of the internal threat actors has financial consideration in mind. But there are few internal attacks against the organization borne out of dissatisfaction or anger.

The Aurubis AG only highlights the vulnerability of the manufacturing sector against cyber threats.