Carnival Corporation, the world's largest cruise line, disclosed a serious security breach yesterday . The company admitted that it suffered a ransomware attack over the weekend.
In a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the cruise line said the incident took place on Saturday, August 15.
Carnival said the attackers were able to “gain access to and encrypt a portion of some IT systems.” In addition, the company said the attackers downloaded some files from the company’s network.
The cruise line said it has already launched an investigation into the ransomware attack and has notified enforcement about the incident. It has also contacted and is working with legal counsel and professionals who specialize in dealing with such incidents.
Based on a preliminary assessment of the incident, Carnival Corporation said the attackers likely gained access to personal data of some customers and employees.
However, despite the problems that may arise, including potential lawsuits, the company said the incident will not have a material impact on the “business, operational or financial results”.
Carnival did not disclose details about the attack. For example, it did not mention the name of the ransomware used to encrypt its network or which of its many internal networks /brands were affected.
Today, Carnival Corp is the largest cruise line in the world, with more than 150,000 employees and a fleet of 600 ships, which owns many cruise ship brands, such as Carnival Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, Seabourn, P&O Cruises (Australia), Costa Cruises, AIDA Cruises, P&O Cruises (UK) and Cunard.
A few months ago, in March, the company disclosed another security breach. At the time, it said that an attacker gained access to its internal network between April and June 2019, from where he stole the personal information of some of its customers.
