Aluminerie Alouette confirms that the major failure of its computer systems is linked to the intrusion of an unauthorized third party.
• Read also: Cyberattack: the Bridgestone tire factory in Joliette forced to a complete shutdown
The breakdown still affects the aluminum smelter, four days following the cyberattack.
In a press release issued at the end of the morning, Alouette indicates that its teams are still working to restore these computer systems.
Email and telephone systems are still not functional.
The management of the largest aluminum production plant in America does not indicate whether aluminum production has been affected, but specifies that activities are continuing in a safe manner.
According to cybersecurity specialist Alexis Dorais-Joncas, director of ESET’s Montreal R&D office, it is normal for several days to be needed to recover from such a breakdown.
“The press release is encouraging, they are recovering from the attack. It rarely happens that one recovers from such an attack in a few hours or a few days. There still seems to be work to do.”
According to Alexis Dorais-Joncas, it is very likely that the Alouette cyberattack, as well as the one affecting the Bridgestone tire plant in Joliette since Sunday, was ransomware, that is to say, an attack aimed at obtaining a ransom.
According to his observations, no cyberattacks related to the conflict in Ukraine have so far been identified outside Ukraine
“At Alouette, at Bridgestone, I expect the government to be part of the investigation. If it were determined that indeed there is a link, that the tactics used in Ukraine would have been used elsewhere, that the malware that we discovered in Ukraine was also used elsewhere, that would be a game-changer for the future. It is at this level that you have to be very, very quick to react.
Alouette management does not grant an interview and indicates that an investigation is underway. If the latter demonstrated a particular issue, “the people concerned would be informed” indicates the press release.
