Ransomware attack on a manufacturer of sensors and control elements

Summary: A ransomware attack on a company encrypts all data and IT systems, bringing the entire production line to a standstill. The cyber attackers also demand a ransom. The cyber insurance Cyber Safe from Baobab absorbs the financial impact of this incident by covering the costs of IT forensics, the entire system restoration effort, and the loss of revenue during the business interruption.

Who is this relevant for? This scenario affects manufacturing plants, industrial companies, and medium-sized manufacturers that rely on a functioning supply chain and logistics. It is particularly relevant for companies that do not have their own 24/7 IT security department and whose digital interfaces with suppliers or customers provide an entry point for ransomware groups.

The attack sequence

The manufacturer's regular production operations were interrupted by criminals silently infiltrating the corporate network. The attackers exploited an undiscovered security vulnerability in the external IT infrastructure to gain access and deploy a sophisticated encryption Trojan (ransomware).

Within a very short time, critical files and system environments on local servers were encrypted and rendered inaccessible. To stop further uncontrolled spread within the network and protect remaining data, the internal IT department had to isolate the entire IT infrastructure and disconnect it from the internet. Shortly thereafter, the perpetrators' extortion message arrived: they demanded a ransom of 110,000 euros for the release of the decryption key.

The damage

Despite a ransom demand of €110,000 the total cost of the attack amounted to €4.2 million:

• Ten days of complete delivery standstill: Production ground to a halt due to the forced system failure. Finished products could neither be registered, packed, nor shipped.
• Two weeks until initial testing: It took 14 days before the first cautious system tests could be conducted in the logistics environment.
• Sixteen days of communication blackout: For over two weeks, the company was unreachable for customers, suppliers, and partners via email or regular landline telephone.
• Rebuilding the IT infrastructure: Server structures, Active Directory, and backups had to be completely cleaned and rebuilt under immense time pressure by external forensic experts and IT specialists.

How would Baobab Risk Solutions have prevented and mitigated this incident?

Cyber Safe and integrated risk solutions

Cyber insurance Cyber Safe and the preventive tools included in the policy would have effectively protected the manufacturer on several levels:

• Financial protection for business interruption: With Cyber Safe the waiting period for business interruption is only 8 hours. Coverage kicks in immediately from the moment the damage occurs. The financial loss of earnings during the ten-day shutdown would have been fully covered.
• Immediate assistance with no cost risk: Through the 24/7 emergency hotline, the company would have had initial telephone contact with experts within 90 seconds. As part of the 48-hour no-cost guarantee Baobab covers all emergency response costs for the first two days (IT specialists, forensic experts, incident response management) with no deductible and no impact on your insurance limit.
• Prevention through Deep Scan: Our proprietary Deep Scan technology continuously analyzes your public IT infrastructure. It identifies security vulnerabilities 3.2 times more effectively than standard scans and detects 98% of risks. The vulnerability used by the attackers to gain entry would have been identified in advance. On average, Baobab customers fix such security gaps 20 times faster than the market average—usually within three days.
• Identity Protection & Crisis Planning: The integrated Dark Web Monitoring would have triggered an alert if compromised credentials had appeared on the dark web. Furthermore, the provided IT crisis plan would have immediately given your internal IT department clear, structured steps to take to contain the spread of the Trojan right away.

Automatically fend off attacks with Baobab MDR

While the insurance handles the claim and Deep Scan proactively closes vulnerabilities, the optional Baobab MDR (Managed Detection and Response) service acts as an active, continuous line of defense during ongoing operations:

• Real-time detection without malware: According to Crowdstrike, 82% of all attacks occur without traditional malware, for example by using legitimate administrative tools. Standard virus scanners remain blind to these. Baobab MDR uses AI-based behavioral analysis with a 99% detection rate to identify even these fileless attacks in real time.
• Speed beats spread: The average time it takes for an attacker to spread through a network is 29 minutes. Baobab's 24/7 Security Operations Center (SOC) works 50% faster than conventional solutions. Our security experts would have detected the suspicious activity on the initial infected systems within minutes, isolated the affected endpoints, and stopped the attack before server encryption could even begin. The ten-day production outage would have been completely prevented.

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