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Cruise operator Carnival hit by ransomware

Carnival raised the possibility of claims from “guests, employees, shareholders or regulatory agencies” because of the incident.
Carnival ransomware
A Carnival cruise ship is pictured. Ransomware hit the IT system of one of Carnival’s brands, compromising data on employees and customers. (Getty Images)

Carnival, the world’s biggest cruise line operator, suffered a ransomware attack on Saturday that exposed personal data on customers and employees, the company said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

The intrusion, which hit the IT system of one of Carnival’s brands, led to a portion of the network being encrypted and some data being downloaded, the company said.

Legal or regulatory action could follow; Carnival raised the possibility of claims from “guests, employees, shareholders or regulatory agencies” because of the incident.

Carnival said it had hired “industry-leading” security firms to recover from the attack and it had notified law enforcement officials of the incident.

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The cruise line giant did not identify who was responsible for the ransomware attack. In search of payouts to keep business humming, ransomware gangs have targeted companies in just about every sector.

Bleeping Computer was first to report on the incident at Carnival.

Sean Lyngaas

Written by Sean Lyngaas

Sean Lyngaas is CyberScoop’s Senior Reporter covering the Department of Homeland Security and Congress. He was previously a freelance journalist in West Africa, where he covered everything from a presidential election in Ghana to military mutinies in Ivory Coast for The New York Times. Lyngaas’ reporting also has appeared in The Washington Post, The Economist and the BBC, among other outlets. His investigation of cybersecurity issues in the nuclear sector, backed by a grant from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, won plaudits from industrial security experts. He was previously a reporter with Federal Computer Week and, before that, with Smart Grid Today. Sean earned a B.A. in public policy from Duke University and an M.A. in International Relations from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.

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