Stadler's IT network was attacked by a malware. Credit: Gerd Altmann

Stadler has announced that its IT network was attacked by a malware, following which the company commenced the necessary security measures.

The company has launched a detailed investigation which is currently ongoing.

The internal surveillance services of Stadler discovered that the IT network was breached and expects that it may have caused a data leak.

The extent of the leak is being analysed and it is suspected to be a professional attack from unidentified offenders.

The company said: “The offenders try to extort a large amount of money from Stadler and threaten the company with a potential publication of data to harm Stadler and thereby also its employees.

“Stadler initiated the required security actions immediately, a team of external experts was called in and the responsible authorities were involved.”

Currently, the backup data of the company is functioning and all the systems that are affected are undergoing a reboot.

Stadler stated that despite the cyber-attack and the ongoing global Covid-19 pandemic, it can continue the new train production.

In March, UK-based Network Rail confirmed that the personal details of commuters using free Wi-Fi at railway stations were exposed online.

According to the BBC, the exposed data includes email addresses and travel histories of around 10,000 people. Internet service provider C3UK has also admitted the leak.

In July last year, Cervello, an Israel-based railway cybersecurity start-up, raised $4.5m in a seed funding round to accelerate its global expansion.