Aachen, 1 April 2022 | Press Release. After more than four months of digital recovery, the KISTERS Group, which was the target of a cyber-attack in mid-November, has returned to normal operations in almost all areas. Specifically, this means that all colleagues, including support, are fully accessible and able to work again, that the review of the software source codes has been completed and that the customers' KISTERScloud systems are back in use after a rebuild. The internal IT infrastructures and processes have also been restored for the most part.
During the reconstruction, the company benefited from the fact that it had taken solid precautionary measures for business continuity as part of its security certification by the ISO 27001 standard, for example in the form of emergency infrastructures and excellent backups and archives. "Experiencing such an attack on our company is an endurance test despite all precautions. In the meantime, however, we can concentrate fully on normal business operations again" says Klaus Kisters, CEO of the KISTERS Group. The top priorities during the incident were, firstly, the safety of customers and business partners and, secondly, open and transparent communication. "I would like to express my sincere thanks for the trust and support we received from all sides," Klaus Kisters continues.
After the attack, the entire IT infrastructure was carefully rebuilt in order to be able to exclude compromises according to the latest state of the technology. Further security precautions such as extensive virus scans, password changes, process monitoring, etc. have further increased security. Kisters warns: "As the threat level from cyber-attacks is currently very high in view of the current geopolitical situation, the highest level of vigilance is still required for us as well as for all other companies, especially in the critical infrastructure."
Background
In the night of 11 November 2021, criminal attackers had gained access to IT systems and data of the KISTERS Group through an orchestrated ransomware attack, encrypted them and threatened to publish captured data. The company immediately called in the responsible authorities and informed both its customers and the public. KISTERS did not respond to the hackers' blackmail attempts.
About KISTERS
KISTERS is a medium-sized IT company with more than 750 employees, headquarters in Aachen/Germany and numerous international subsidiaries. Environmental data management is the common core of almost all business areas - and has been our passion since the company was founded as an engineering office in 1963. Today, we develop, among other things, software solutions for sustainable resource management of energy, water and air, for environmental protection and safety, for 3D viewing as well as precision instrumentation for environmental monitoring. KISTERS‘ hardware sales department supplies equipment such as large-format printers (2D and 3D) and scanners. The company is also still active in the area of engineering services. With expertise, application and industry experience, we are an internationally sought-after solution partner.
Further press information can be found at KISTERS AG at
www.kisters.de/en/news/news/
Press contact:
KISTERS AG
Astrid Beckers
Wetterkreuz 13a
91058 Erlangen
Telephone: 09131 480096 39
Fax: 09131 480096 55
astrid.beckers@kisters.de
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