Kawasaki’s European Arm Recovers from RansomHub Cyberattack: A Detailed Look at the Incident and Its Implications

Kawasaki’s European arm has recently restored operations after falling victim to a cyberattack claimed by the notorious ransomware group RansomHub. The attack, which targeted Kawasaki Motors Europe (KME) at the start of September 2024, caused significant disruptions, leading the company to temporarily isolate its servers as a precautionary measure.

KME, responsible for distributing and marketing Kawasaki’s motorcycle products across Europe, stated that while the attack did not successfully compromise their systems, it resulted in the need to isolate all servers to initiate a strategic recovery plan. The IT department, in collaboration with external cybersecurity experts, spent the following week cleaning and verifying the servers before reconnecting them to the network. By the start of this week, more than 90% of KME’s server functionality had been restored, allowing business operations involving dealerships and third-party suppliers to resume​(BleepingComputer)​(Unsafe.sh).

RansomHub, which claimed responsibility for the attack, alleged that they had stolen 487 GB of data from Kawasaki’s networks. The group threatened to publish the stolen data if their demands were not met. This ransomware gang has been particularly active and is seen as a successor to now-defunct groups like LockBit and AlphV. RansomHub’s involvement in the attack on Kawasaki has raised concerns within the cybersecurity community, highlighting the increasing sophistication and reach of ransomware operations​(BleepingComputer).

This incident underscores the growing threat of ransomware attacks on major corporations and the importance of robust cybersecurity measures to protect sensitive data and maintain operational integrity.