Malware takes down some Pitney Bowes systems

Pitney Bowes reported today that it was hit with malware that has made some files inaccessible, but stopped short of calling it a ransomware attack.

Pitney Bowes said the attack has encrypted some corporate information and disrupted customer access to certain services, but at this time the company does not believe any customer or employee information has been exfiltrated from its network. Company executives have made no mention of a ransom being demanded.

“Our technical team is working to restore the affected systems, and it is working closely with third-party consultants to address this matter. We are considering all options to expedite this process and we appreciate our customers’ patience as we work toward a resolution,” the company said in a statement.

Some of the services affected include the company’s mail-focused products like postage machines which cannot be refilled, SendPro Online in the UK and Canada, Your Account and the Pitney Bowes Supplies web store cannot be accessed. This in turn impacts clients subscribed to AutoInk and our Supplies App.

Customers with Mail360 and MIPro Licensing products the software and data marketplace downloads are unavailable.

Pitney Bowes has activated its Enterprise Outage Response Team, which is working in conjunction with its IT team to rectify the situation, but at this time there is no ETA for when the systems will be back online.

Depending upon how well the company maintained back ups of its data, the recovery could be quite costly as FedEx, Maersk and other ransomware victims discovered when they were attacked and shut down.

"Costs related to this cyber incident could go up rapidly for Pitney Bowes: third-party forensic experts, breach notification, loss of revenue, lawsuits and much more. Cyber security insurance can help immediately, especially if the cyber policy is up to date with the number of records to be covered. This is why continuous underwriting of cyber policies can eliminate any insurability gaps," said Rajeev Gupta, co-founder and chief product officer at Cowbell Cyber.