Bitmarck Technik GmbH Suffers Cyber Attack

Bitmarck Technik GmbH, a German IT services firm has been knocked offline after being hit by a cyberattack earlier this week.

Bitmarck, said that the attack had targeted its internal systems. Consequently, it took all customer service, internal systems, and some data centers offline to conduct an impact analysis. Bitmarck added that it’s currently in the process of bringing its systems back online step by step in accordance with a security- and priority-oriented process.

Bitmarck says that no customer or personal information being stolen and that its system that stores patient data was not targeted in the attack and informed authorities and consulted with external security experts.

Bitmarck customers affected include SBK, one of Germany’s largest health insurers, which has seen its phone, email and app services completely knocked offline. The attack on Bitmarck is apparently not the first this year, with an attack in January resulting in the theft of data belonging to more than 300,000 insurance policyholders.

Without further details, the actions by Bitmarck in shutting down untargeted systems would suggest ransomware, which is known to move laterally through an organization once it gets through the front door. Then again, the company may have just been overly cautious.

Though the company stresses that there are currently no signs of data theft, it is common for a data breach to be confirmed weeks or even months after the initial attack.