Bridgestone reports ransomware attack at U.S. subsidiary
(Reuters) — Japanese tire manufacturer Bridgestone Corp. said Friday that its U.S. subsidiary had been hit by a ransomware attack, just weeks after suppliers of automaker Toyota Motor Corp. reported similar attacks.
Bridgestone said third-party unauthorized access was made at Bridgestone Americas on Feb. 27, prompting it to shut down the computer network and production at its factories in North and Middle America for about a week.
An investigation later determined the incident to be a ransomware attack, the company said but declined to provide more details including ransom claims and impact from the production suspension.
Bridgestone, which supplies tires and other automobile components to Toyota and other car manufacturers, said it later reconnected the network after a comprehensive security check.
The announcement comes about two weeks after Toyota's main supplier, Denso Corp. detected unauthorized access via a ransomware attack at a group company that handles sales and engineering in Germany.
Another Toyota supplier was hit by a cyberattack late last month, prompting Japan's largest automaker to shut down domestic production for one day on March 1, affecting output of around 13,000 vehicles.
