One of the UK’s top engineering firms, Vesuvius, has reported that it is “managing a cyber incident”.
The company is in the top 250 companies listed on the London Stock Exchange and specialises in molten metal flow technology.
Vesuvius made the following press release on the London Stock Exchange website:
Vesuvius plc, a global leader in molten metal flow engineering and technology, is currently managing a cyber incident. The incident has involved unauthorised access to our systems.
Immediately upon becoming aware of unauthorised activity on our networks, we have taken the necessary steps to investigate and respond to the incident, including shutting down affected systems. We are working with leading cyber security experts to support our investigations and identify the extent of the issue, including the impact on production and contract fulfilment.
We are taking steps to comply with all relevant regulatory obligations in light of the information that emerges from our ongoing investigations.
A further announcement will be made if and when appropriate.
Vesuvius employs more than 10,000 people and reported revenue of more than £1.6 billion for 2021.
The cyberattack caused the company’s share price to drop more than 3% after it was announced.
On January 10th 2023, another UK industrial firm, Morgan Advanced Materials, made a similar announcement via the London Stock Exchange.
Today they have provided an update to investors stating:
Exceptional costs associated with the incident could amount to approximately £8m to £12m, comprising specialist professional fees, as well as costs associated with recovering a number of systems across the Morgan Group.
Morgan estimates that these will impact their financial year 2023 operating profit to be 10-15% lower than expected. This announcement caused the company’s share price to plunge by 7.5%.
These attacks follow on from the LockBit attack against Royal Mail and the attack against financial services supplier, ION, reported previously by TEARLINE.
Ransomware continues to be a dangerous and lucrative operation, despite recent law enforcement actions against groups like REvil, Conti and HIVE.
