(WHDH) — The Woods Hole, Martha’s Vineyard, and Natucket Steamship Authority has been the target of a ransomware attack that is affecting operations on Wednesday.
Customers traveling with the authority are being warned to that they may experience some delays during the ticketing process but there is no impact to the safety of vessel operations, as the issue does not affect radar or GPS functionality.
“If traveling with the Authority today, cash is preferred for all transactions,” officials said in a news release. “The availability of credit card systems to process vehicle and passenger tickets, as well as parking lot fees, is limited.”
Customers are also currently unable to book or change vehicle reservations online or by phone. Existing vehicle reservations will be honored at Authority terminals and rescheduling and cancellation fees will be waived.
Scheduled trips to both islands continue to operate at this time.
The hack follows the ransomware attack on the nation’s largest meat processing company earlier this week and a similar attack that shut down an oil pipeline supplying nearly half the fuel for the northeast last month. Both blamed on cyber criminal gangs based in Russia.
The White House says President Biden will bring up Russia’s responsibility for the attacks when they meet for a summit in Switzerland in two weeks.
“We’ve discussed in the past and delivered the message that responsible states do not harbor ransomware criminals .”
A team of IT professionals is currently assessing the impact of the Steamship Authority attack. The ticketing processes, including online and phone reservations, are expected to continue to be affected on Thursday.
No additional information was immediately available.
This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.
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