Global Shipper Hacked, Data On Shipments Likely Exposed

Clarksons, the U.K. shipping service provider, disclosed news on Wednesday (Nov. 29) that its computer systems were hit by a data breach.

In a press release, the company said its initial investigations have found that a single and isolated user account (which has since been disabled) was granted unauthorized access to its computer system. Clarksons said that it put in place additional security measures to prevent a similar cyberattack from happening and that as soon as the data breach was discovered, the company took the appropriate actions in response.

The U.K. shipping service reassured clients and shareholders in the release, claiming the breach hasn’t impacted its ability to do business. However, the company warned that the person or persons behind the cyberattack may try to release some data.

In preparation for this scenario, Clarksons said it has been working with the police. Additionally, the company said the data at issue is confidential, so lawyers are on standby to take all necessary steps to preserve the confidentiality of the information.  Clarksons said it is in the process of contacting clients and individuals that may have been impacted by the data breach.

“Issues of cybersecurity are at the forefront of many business agendas in today’s digital and commercial landscape, and, despite our extensive efforts, we have suffered this criminal attack. As you would rightly expect, we’re working closely with specialist police teams and data security experts to do all we can to best understand the incident and what we can do to protect our clients now and in the future. We hope that, in time, we can share the lessons learned with our clients to help stop them from becoming victims themselves. In the meantime, I hope our clients understand that we would not be held to ransom by criminals, and I would like to sincerely apologize for any concern this incident may have understandably raised,” said Andi Case, CEO of Clarksons in prepared remarks.

The executive noted that given there is an investigation going on, it wouldn’t be appropriate for the company to make any more comments at this time.