The Steamship Authority did not pay ransom to end a cyberattack that crippled some of its systems this month, the general manager of the Massachusetts ferry company said Tuesday.
The attack started June 2 and lasted for days, preventing people coming and going from Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard from booking or changing reservations online or on the phone. The website was restored June 12, though ships had continued to operate during the outage.
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It's one of several high-profile hacks of infrastructure in recent months, including on a major American oil pipeline and the world's largest meat-packing company. Many companies pay a ransom to the hackers to have their systems returned, but the Steamship Authority noted in an update Tuesday that it did not.
"Although that investigation is ongoing, we do want to our customers and the public to know that the Steamship Authority did not pay a ransom or engage with the cybercriminals," General Manager Robert B. Davis said in a statement.
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He referred other questions about the investigation to the FBI, noting that the company is grateful for the support it's gotten from law enforcement and other government agencies, as well as the "hard work and diligence" of its own staff in keeping the business running.
Davis said the Steamship Authority reviewed its systems while working with cybersecurity experts and law enforcement and has added "additional safeguards," though he didn't specify what they are.
