The problems with the deposit machines have been resolved, and all machines are operational again. On Thursday, some of the machines were switched on; the manufacturer expects the rest to go online again today. The attackers did not install any ransomware or demand a ransom.
Tamara confirms this in an update message.
Attackers did not install ransomware
Last Tuesday, the Norwegian company was hit by a cyber attack. Employees discovered that hackers had set their sights on specific company data systems. Tomra disconnected various systems from the internet to limit the attack’s impact. As a result, 120 deposit machines in our country were temporarily offline. The manufacturer has more than 4,000 vending machines in our country, including at Albert Heijn, Jumbo, Spar, Coop and Aldi.
In an update, Tomra says that the attack was carried out from Canada. “The attacker had access to some systems of the technical infrastructure, which allowed him to infiltrate the systems of other locations,” the manufacturer says. The perpetrator managed to penetrate the company network through some compromised accounts of Tomra employees.
The deposit machine maker says there is no evidence that customers, business partners or their systems are at risk from the attack. No ransomware was found on Tomra’s company network either. Investigations show that no data has been encrypted or stolen. Finally, the attackers also left no ransom demands.
“Maybe it was just vandalism.”
As a precaution, Tomra has installed a new server that is linked to the deposit machine system. Half of the affected machines were switched on on Thursday; the rest are expected to go online again today.
René Hissink, director at Tomra in the Netherlands, tells NOS that the cyber attack came at a difficult time. “We were already busy because we were still working on adjustments to vending machines due to deposits on cans. Such a hack is never convenient, but this can be bad now in the middle of the holiday season and in the middle of the rollout.”When asked how it is possible that no ransom was demanded, Hissink replies: “Maybe it was just vandalism”.