Garmin shut down its services after an alleged ransomware attack

Smartwatch and wearable device maker Garmin had to shut down some of its connected services and call centers following a ransomware attack.

On July 23, smartwatch and wearables maker Garmin has shut down several of its services due to a ransomware attack that targeted its internal network and some production systems.

“We are currently experiencing an outage that affects Garmin.com and Garmin Connect,” reads a statement published by the company on its website. “This outage also affects our call centers, and we are currently unable to receive any calls, emails or online chats. We are working to resolve this issue as quickly as possible and apologize for this inconvenience.”

The outage also impacted the company call centers, making it impossible for the company to provide information to its users.

Most of the services used by customers of the company rely on the Garmin Connect service to sync data about runs and bike rides with its servers.

Even if the company did not provide technical details of the outage, several employees shared details about the alleged ransomware attack on social media.

Some employees speculate the involvement of a new strain of ransomware called WastedLocker. The incident could have a severe impact on the company, the Taiwanese tech news iThome reported that an internal memo that Garmin’s IT staff sent its Taiwan factories was announcing two days of maintenance mode planned for Friday and Saturday, July 24 and July 25.

In September 2019, Garmin was the victim of a data breach, it warned customers in South Africa that shopped on the shop.garmin.co.za portal that their personal info and payment data were exposed.

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Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, ransomware)

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