Pitney Bowes and Groupe M6 Hit By Ransomware

A US mailing technology company and one of France’s largest media groups have been hit by ransomware over the past few days, highlighting the continued threat to businesses of all types.

Pitney Bowes, which provides services to print labels, track parcels and manage expenses, revealed the news in an update overnight.

It claimed a third-party attack “encrypted information on some systems and disrupted customer access to our services.”

SendPro products, postage refill, and Your Account access have all been affected, although the firm said there’s no evidence that customer accounts or data have been impacted.

“Our technical team is working to restore the affected systems, and it is working closely with third-party consultants to address this matter,” it added. “We are considering all options to expedite this process and we appreciate our customers’ patience as we work toward a resolution.”

The news comes as French media giant Groupe M6 admitted over the weekend that it was also struck by a cyber-attack, subsequently reported to be ransomware.

According to local reports, the firm’s email servers and phone lines are down due to the attack, although a speedy response from its IT department managed to ensure the threat did not affect the broadcasting of TV channels.

Chris Morales, head of security analytics at Vectra, argued that the best form of protection from ransomware is to identify the warning signs of an attack.

“It is hard to stop, but it can be defeated. There are many precursor signs to a ransomware attack that can be detected and responded to, before a ransomware attack succeeds,” he added.

“Continuous monitoring for network behaviors to proactively detect and respond to attacks does give an organization an opportunity to save themselves from the loss of data.”

Alex Guirakhoo, strategic intelligence analyst at Digital Shadows, claimed that ransomware attackers are getting increasingly targeted in their approach, singling out specific organizations and sectors.

“Future attacks are likely to forgo indiscriminate, widespread targeting in favor of more tailored and specific distribution methods,” he argued. “As organizations continue to pay high extortion demands, sometimes reaching hundreds of thousands of dollars, cyber-criminals are likely to continue perceiving ransomware as a lucrative opportunity.”

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