Case Study – Responding to a Ransomware Attack

An American aerospace manufacturer, which counts among its customers many of the nation’s largest airlines and defense contractors, experienced a disruptive ransomware attack that halted manufacturing at many of its largest facilities. The attack occurred in the early hours of a Sunday morning. 

Our role

Our team was engaged by that afternoon to develop a tailored communications strategy to reach the company’s customers by Monday morning, ensuring they first learned of the incident directly from their supplier, rather than the media or the threat actor responsible for the incident.  

With the initial disclosure completed, we supported the company in all aspects of their ongoing communications strategy, providing regular updates on the recovery process as business continuity plans were activated, and playing a central role in tracking and responding to the myriad security questionnaires that the company received from its highly sophisticated customer base.  

Our Impact

Once operations were restored, our team pivoted to the data notification process, specifically creating communications plans for all the company’s customers who had sensitive data exfiltrated because of the incident. Working in partnership with external counsel, we supported dozens of one-on-one meetings with these affected customers and subsequently assisted with ensuring the company’s regulatory obligations were met, including a series of disclosures to the Department of Defense