Third party cyber attacks, such as the one that hit Microlise services last week, present a challenge for all logistics operators - even those vigilant to security breaches, Europa Worldwide has warned.

As IT experts continued to try and secure the systems affected by the attack on Halloween and which left Microlise’s tracking system disabled, Europa told Motor Transport that mitigating against third party incidents was particularly difficult due to their extensive reach.

Last year, Europa replaced several legacy systems with Microlise telematics and fleet management solutions, but the company said it had not been seriously affected by this cyber attack due to its robust security measures.

Chris Mitchell, group head of IT at Europa Worldwide Group, said: “In response to the recent cyber attack on Microlise services, we have taken precautionary measures to safeguard our internal and operational systems until the threat is fully mitigated.

“Our security and security operation centre teams are working closely with Microlise and are monitoring the situation to ensure there is no risk to our systems. We are committed to maintaining the security and integrity of our operation until the threat has been fully removed.”

The attack is known to have disrupted DHL’s store deliveries for the retailer NISA and in a statement NISA said it led to the complete wiping of servers dedicated to the tracking system used by DHL.

Both Microlise and DHL moved quickly to eliminate any disruption to NISA retailers and deliveries resumed as scheduled later on the same day of the attack.

Motor Transport is aware of other companies affected by the security breach, but neither they nor other companies relying on Microlise software responded to requests for comment.

Mitchell added: “Third-party attacks like Microlise, are prevalent not only through the supply chain but across businesses as a whole, posing challenges even for vigilant IT professionals.

“Mitigating supplier chain attacks is particularly difficult due to their extensive reach, therefore, having a robust business continuity plan that addresses these various scenarios is crucial for ensuring business operations can continue until services are restored.”

Microlise reiterated its original statement released earlier this week that some of the systems affected had now been restored and it was continuing to secure complete restoration.

It added that it was keeping customers and relevant stakeholders closely updated on progress.

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