Steamship Authority Concludes Cyber Attack Investigation

FALMOUTH – The Steamship Authority (SSA) said that it has officially concluded its investigation into the cyber attack that interrupted some of the ferry’s services last month. 

Ferry schedules were unaffected and safety was never compromised, said the authority. 

Officials with the service also said that at no point did they cooperate with the criminals responsible for the attack, or pay a ransom. 

Third-party investigators, cybersecurity experts and authorities worked with the SAA during the investigation, and said that no customer information was compromised by the attack, and that new safeguards have been added.

The full statement from the Steamship Authority can be found below: 

On June 2, 2021, the Woods Hole, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority detected a ransomware event impacting certain operations.

We promptly initiated response protocols, including notifying law enforcement on the state and federal level as well as launching an investigation.

In line with our business continuity plan, we immediately took steps to ensure the continued operation of our ferries.

As a result, all existing customer reservations were honored, and no scheduled trips were canceled and not in any way was the safety of our vessels affected.

At no time did the Steamship Authority engage with the cybercriminals or pay a ransom.

As part of the Steamship Authority’s comprehensive response to this event, we worked with third-party cybersecurity forensic investigators to conduct a thorough internal investigation.

After a rigorous evaluation of our systems, this investigation has now concluded and the cybersecurity investigators have confirmed that no sensitive information, including customer data or payment information, was viewed or downloaded during this incident.

In light of this criminal act, we have also implemented additional safeguards to bolster our already robust protocols.

The Steamship Authority thanks local, state, and federal agencies, including law enforcement, for their help throughout this incident.

We also thank our employees for their dedication and hard work to keep our ferries running and restore our systems.

Finally, the Steamship Authority extends our gratitude to our customers and the communities we serve for their patience and understanding.

About Grady Culhane

Grady Culhane is a Cape Cod native from Eastham. He studied media communications at Cape Cod Community College and joined the CapeCod.com News Center in 2019.



CapeCod.com
737 West Main Street
Hyannis, MA 02601
Contact Us | Advertise Terms of Use 
Employment and EEO | Privacy