An attack carried out on a global supplier of scientific testing services, Eurofins, could result in a major financial blow to the company.
Although no leak or authorized theft was discovered, UK police have suspended all work with the company, which is believed to carry out at least half of all toxicology, ballistics, forensics and DNA analysis for the police force.
About Eurofins
Based in Brussels, Eurofins provides scientific testing of food, agricultural products, pharmaceuticals, consumer products, environmental and forensic testing, clinical diagnostics and other types of scientific testing to companies and governments.
It manages a network of more than 800 laboratories in 47 countries in Europe, North and South America and Asia-Pacific, with a total of over 45,000 employees in its laboratories.
In fact, a few days before the attack, the company had opened an IoT in Groningen, the Netherlands.
About the attack
Eurofins was hit by an unknown ransomware on the first weekend of June.
The attack affected some of the company's systems, which in order to minimize the damage suspended their operation and then proceeded to investigate the incident with the help of law enforcement agencies and security companies.
Eurofins claimed on June 10 that attack patterns and information from law enforcement and independent cybersecurity experts led them “to believe that this attack has been carried out by highly sophisticated and resourced actors.”.
The company did not share which specific ransomware affected its systems, other than that it is now detectable by security methods. It also did not say which of the labs were affected, only that they are located in different countries.
The company said that as of Monday, June 17, the vast majority of operations at its affected laboratories had been restored.
The result of the attack
The company said its attention has turned to fully restoring its systems so that it can once again provide its customers with the high-level services they have become accustomed to.
So far it is difficult to assess how it has affected or whether it will affect the company's financial results.
The National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) said on Friday that "the attack suffered by Eurofins Scientific has affected the IT systems of its subsidiary Eurofins Forensics Services, which is based in the UK and is one of the primary providers of forensic services to the British police."
As a result, the NPCC temporarily suspended all law enforcement cases in this subsidiary.
“Our priority is to minimise the impact on the criminal justice system. We have put in place our national contingency plans, which will make urgent submissions and prioritise alternative suppliers as soon as possible,” said Chief Constable James Vaughan.
The suspension took effect on June 3, and the company has been ordered to return any cases that had not been started.
