NEW BREMEN — Crown Equipment Corporation acknowledged Wednesday a cyberattack shut down operations at multiple plants for more than a week.
“The company has experienced a cyberattack that required the company to temporarily shut down its operating systems to investigate and resolve the matter,” according to a news release from the New Bremen-based company. “The company attributed the malicious attack to an international cybercriminal organization.
“The company is working with some of the world’s leading cybersecurity experts as well as federal law enforcement to analyze the data and determine the appropriate next steps.
The company’s email, phone lines and website are also affected by the shutdown.
Social media users have been discussing the incident since it started, with some posts saying Crown expects to reopen on June 24, which is a week longer than originally anticipated. Some social media users have reported the company has directed employees to file for unemployement during the shutdown.
Crown, which makes lift trucks and material handling equipement, is a global company with about 20,000 employees and 24 manufacturing plants, but its corporate headquarters are in New Bremen.
“The company is still working through the disruption caused by the attack and is making progress toward transitioning to normal business operations,” according to the release. “Crown is also working closely with its customers to help reduce the effect the incident may have on their operations.”
Crown said in the release that its security measures limited the effects of the attack.
The company’s manufacturing operations have been halted since June 9.
