February 27, 2024 at 12:05PM
The Hesse Consumer Advice Center in Germany was hit by a ransomware attack causing disruptions in its IT systems, impacting communication channels. Although the website is now fully operational, reaching the center remains difficult. The organization is working with IT security experts to restore communication channels, while concerns about potential data breaches and extortion persist.
From the provided meeting notes, it is clear that the Hesse Consumer Advice Center in Germany has suffered a ransomware attack, leading to disruptions in their IT systems and impacting the availability of their consumer advice services. Although the center’s website is now fully operational, some communication channels remain affected, causing difficulties for consumers to reach the advice center and consumer advocates.
External IT security experts are assisting in the efforts to restore communication channels, but a timeline for normal operations to resume has not been provided. The center is also concerned about the possibility of a data breach and is investigating whether any data has been stolen. If a personal data compromise is confirmed, the affected individuals will be informed.
In the meantime, the Hessen Consumer Advice Center has reported the cybersecurity incident to the state’s data protection and IT security offices, and a criminal complaint has been filed with the Hessen police. It’s worth noting that at the time of writing, no major ransomware operations have taken responsibility for the attack.