Royal Dirkzwager, a Dutch maritime logistics company, has been hit by ransomware from the Play group, the latest attack targeting the shipping industry.
The company’s CEO, Joan Blaas, confirmed that the cyberattack did not affect operations but did result in data theft from servers containing contracts and personal information.
The attack also impacted employees who had already experienced job losses and office moves due to the company’s bankruptcy in 2021.
Royal Dirkzwager provides information to over 800 organisations in the maritime industry and registers over 200,000 ship movements a year.
The Play ransomware group has added Royal Dirkzwager to its list of victims, with the shipping industry frequently targeted by ransomware attackers in recent years.
DNV, the world’s largest classification society, was attacked in January 2022, with the ransomware attack affecting approximately 1,000 vessels. DNV’s ShipManager system was forced to shut down, and the company had to rebuild the server environment.
A forensic investigation confirmed that no other parts of DNV’s IT infrastructure were affected, but the incident is still under investigation by the Norwegian Police.
Europe has seen a string of ransomware attacks on ports in recent years, with the Port of Lisbon attacked by the LockBit ransomware group in January 2023.
Multiple ports in Belgium and the Netherlands have also reported issues related to operational systems after cyberattacks.
Oil companies Oiltanking and Mabanaft suffered a cyberattack in February 2022 that crippled their loading and unloading systems, with Oiltanking declaring force majeure.
Expeditors International also announced a cyberattack in 2022 that slowed its operations globally for months.
