CWT Pays $4.5 Million US to Hackers

by TravelPulse Staff
Last updated: 7:59 AM ET, Tue September 1, 2020

US Travel giant CWT has fallen victim to hackers after paying them a ransom of $4.5 million US after they stole sensitive information and knocked 30,000 of their computers offline.

According to a Reuters News report, the attackers used a strain of ransomware called Ragnar Locker, which encrypts computer files and renders them unusable until the victim pays for access to be restored.

While declining to comment on the situation citing the ongoing investigation, the company did release a statement that said,

"We can confirm that after temporarily shutting down our systems as a precautionary measure, our systems are back online and the incident has now ceased. While the investigation is at an early stage, we have no indication that personally identifiable information/customer and traveller information has been compromised."

CWT posted revenues last year of $1.5 Billion US and said they immediately contacted US and European authorities.

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