Boeing Parts Website Down After Company Hit With Cyberattack

Margi Murphy and Mary Schlangenstein
2-min read
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(Bloomberg) -- Boeing Co.’s website selling spare aircraft parts, software and services was offline Thursday after the aerospace giant acknowledged it was dealing with a cyberattack.

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Customers visiting the official Boeing supplies web page were met with an image of a hard-hat and the Boeing logo and a notice that the company’s site and systems were down due to a cyber incident. It was unclear whether the hackers were responsible for taking down the website, or whether its removal was a defensive tactic by Boeing in a bid to prevent the intruders from accessing more data. A Boeing spokesperson couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

In the recent case of MGM Resorts International, which was targeted in a ransomware attack, the company decided to take down its consumer-facing websites to stop the intruders from gaining access to the systems behind them, MGM Chief Executive Officer Bill Hornbuckle told Bloomberg News last month in an interview.

Boeing confirmed a cyberattack impacting its parts and distribution business on Wednesday, but added the incident didn’t impact flight safety.

The company held conference calls with its airline customers on Thursday to brief them on the cyberattack at the parts unit, according to two people at US carriers familiar with the issue who asked not to be identified because the information wasn’t public. The unit was conducting business manually while its website was down, one of the people said.

Lockbit, a criminal gang with ties to Russia, threatened last week to release “sensitive data” belonging to Arlington, Virginia-based Boeing if it didn’t pay a ransom by Nov. 2. The hackers placed the company’s name on its website, with a countdown to the day last week, but the name was no longer there on Wednesday.

--With assistance from Julie Johnsson.

(Updates with Boeing-airline calls in the fifth paragraph.)

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