NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Bridgestone Americas Inc. has determined that its systems were compromised late last month "as a result of a ransomware attack."
The tire maker, which is ramping production back up after a Feb. 27 cyber breach on its information systems, has determined that some of its data has been compromised and dumped on a leak site.
"Bridgestone Americas detected an IT security incident (and) since then, we have proactively notified federal law enforcement and are staying in communication with them," the company told Rubber News. "We have determined this incident to be the result of a ransomware attack.
"We are working around the clock with external security advisors to investigate and understand the full scope and nature of the incident."
The company said it has no evidence that this was a targeted attack, and it remains unclear what type of information was compromised.
As part of its investigation, Bridgestone said it has determined that "the threat actor" has followed a pattern of behavior "common to attacks of this type by removing information from a limited number of Bridgestone systems."
"They have released the first batch of data to a leak site and are threatening to release small batches of data to be posted over an unspecified period," the company said.
"Bridgestone treats the security of our teammates, customers and partners' information with the utmost importance," the statement said. "We will continue to communicate with all our stakeholders frequently, working together to mitigate potential harm from these types of incidents and to further enhance our cybersecurity measures as recommended by our internal and external security advisors.
"Unfortunately, ransomware attacks similar to this one are increasing in sophistication and affecting thousands of organizations of all sizes."
Immediately after the security breach Bridgestone disconnected computers at certain manufacturing and retreading facilities in North America and Latin America, pausing production.
Bridgestone sent workers home early from several manufacturing shifts spanning Feb. 27-28, including those in Des Moines, Iowa; and in La Vergne, Tenn.
According to Bridgestone, workers also were affected at a truck and bus radial factory in Warren County, Tenn.; a passenger and light truck radial tire plant in Aiken County, S.C.; and Canadian media reported Feb. 27 that there was disruption to the night shift at a Bridgestone plant in Joliette, Quebec.
All facilities affected have returned full production.
Bridgestone Americas operates more than 50 production facilities and employs around 55,000 in Canada, Central America, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
Parent company Bridgestone Corp. is a Japanese multinational and is the second-largest tire maker according to Tire Business data.
