Boeing says cyber incident hit parts business after ransom threat

(Reuters) — Boeing Co., one of the world’s largest defense and space contractors, said Wednesday it was investigating a cyber incident that impacted elements of its parts and distribution business.

Boeing acknowledged the incident days after the Lockbit cybercrime gang said Friday it had stolen “a tremendous amount” of sensitive data that it would dump online if the U.S. planemaker didn’t pay ransom by Nov. 2.

The Lockbit threat was no longer on the gang’s website as of Wednesday, and it didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Boeing declined to comment on whether Lockbit was behind the cyber incident it disclosed.

“This issue does not affect flight safety,” a Boeing spokesperson said. “We are actively investigating the incident and coordinating with law enforcement and regulatory authorities. We are notifying our customers and suppliers.”

Boeing’s parts and distribution business, which falls under its Global Services division, provides material and logistics support to its customers, according to the company’s 2022 annual report. Some webpages on the company’s official website that had information on the Global Services division were down on Wednesday, with a message that cited technical issues.

“We expect the site to be back up soon,” the pages said.

Lockbit was the most active global ransomware group last year based on the number of victims, and it has hit 1,700 U.S. organizations since 2020, according to the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.