Serious cyberattack hits German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK)

A massive cyberattack hit the website of the German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) this week.

A massive attack hit the website of the German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) forcing the organization to shut down its IT systems as a precautionary measure for security reasons.

“Due to a possible cyber attack, the IHK organization has shut down its IT systems as a precautionary measure for security reasons . We are currently working intensively on a solution and defense. The IT systems are successively started up after testing, so that the services are then available again for companies.” reads the announcement published by the German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK).

DIHK states that phone and fax are the only channels to use to contact it.

Michael Bergmann, chief executive of DIHK, defined the attack as serious and massive, it also added that the organization was not able to estimate how long its systems will be down.

Bergmann did not provide further details about the attack, but the circumstances suggest the German Chambers of Industry and Commerce was the victim of a ransomware attack.

“We will inform you at this point and on other channels which applications are functional again. As soon as the security of our systems has been fully restored, you will of course also be informed.” concludes the announcement.

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Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, German Chambers of Industry and Commerce)

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Pierluigi Paganini

Pierluigi Paganini is member of the ENISA (European Union Agency for Network and Information Security) Threat Landscape Stakeholder Group and Cyber G7 Group, he is also a Security Evangelist, Security Analyst and Freelance Writer. Editor-in-Chief at "Cyber Defense Magazine", Pierluigi is a cyber security expert with over 20 years experience in the field, he is Certified Ethical Hacker at EC Council in London. The passion for writing and a strong belief that security is founded on sharing and awareness led Pierluigi to find the security blog "Security Affairs" recently named a Top National Security Resource for US. Pierluigi is a member of the "The Hacker News" team and he is a writer for some major publications in the field such as Cyber War Zone, ICTTF, Infosec Island, Infosec Institute, The Hacker News Magazine and for many other Security magazines. Author of the Books "The Deep Dark Web" and “Digital Virtual Currency and Bitcoin”.