MSC hit by network outage, cyber-attack not ruled out

Swiss-based container shipping major Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) has been targeted by what is suspected to be a cyber attack.

“At the time of writing this, msc.com has been down for 10 hours, and for now I have received information that this is the result of a successful cyberattack. Mail services are still working and MSC has an IT infrastructure where many services are locally operated and hence it is unclear presently which exact IT tools are operational and which are not. For guidance, I have not received or seen an official announcement yet from MSC on this topic,” Lars Jensen, CEO and Partner of Sea Intelligence Consulting, said on its Linkedin account.

The company informed on its social media accounts that its website MSC.com and myMSC were not available amid a network outage in one of the company’s data centers in Geneva.

The company’s website was still down at the time of publication of this article.

“Security is our top priority. While we do not rule out the possibility of a malware, we have decided to close down our servers in our Headquarters as a first safety measure.

“We continue to monitor and evaluate the situation, and we’re working towards full recovery in the shortest time possible,” MSC said in a statement to our news desk.

“We confirm our agencies worldwide network is working. Our local agents support customers for all services as usual.” 

MSC’s 2M Alliance partner Maersk experienced a cyber attack back in 2017, which cost the company approximately US$ 300-million.

Maersk was one of many global companies to be hit by a malware later known as NotPetya, distributed through a Ukrainian accounting software called MeDoc, which is used for filing tax returns in Ukraine.