Cyber Attack Hits Operations at Aluminum Maker Norsk Hydro

Norsk Hydro, one of the world’s biggest aluminum producers, suffered production outages after a cyber attack affected operations across Europe and the U.S., according to Bloomberg.

The company said it was still working to contain the effects of the ransomware, a kind of malicious software that typically blocks computer access unless a ransom is paid, and called the situation “quite severe.“ Hydro said it has cyber insurance and plans to restore systems using back-up data.

It couldn’t detail how much output had been impacted, but said it had isolated affected plants. Some plants where metal is fashioned into finished products were temporarily stopped. The so-called potlines, which process molten aluminum and need to be kept running 24 hours a day, had switched to manual mode where possible.

“The majority of our plants are operating as normal, producing customer orders and delivering according to plan,“ CFO Eivind Kallevik said in an interview in Oslo. Hydro doesn’t know the identity of the hackers, but believes the attack originated in the U.S. The company hasn’t made contact with the perpetrators and no specific ransom demands have been made, Kallevik said.