Textile company Coindu, headquartered in Famalicão and manufacturing plants in Arcos de Valdevez, Romania and Mexico, has resumed business after being hit by a cyberattack that cost it two days of total stoppage and disrupted production by around 2.5 million euros.
Between Tuesday, when the problem was discovered, and Thursday, at least 2,500 workers were completely stopped, due to the computer attack that was to start at the Mexican branch. In total, there were about 5,000,000 people without access to the computer systems of this group that specializes in producing coatings that are used by several car brands and who also make luxury fashion items at the factory in Alto Minho, Coindu Couture.
Company officials filed a complaint with the judicial police, but did not notify the National Cybersecurity Center, as the agency’s press office confirmed to the public.
In the case of this company that did not respond to this question which was sent in writing, this accident notification was voluntary and not mandatory. Portuguese law requires that only public administration entities be notified of incidents, as well as “important infrastructure operators, basic service operators and digital service providers”.
The company also did not answer other questions, about what type of systems were attacked, what type of attack was, and why it was necessary to stop work.
In an email to PÚBLICO, signed by the company’s chief financial officer, Marcus Tischner, he just confirmed that the group “was the target of a cyberattack last Tuesday night” and that this attack “affected all of the group’s units”.
“Our teams responded promptly, preventing further damage. However, the scale and complexity of our operations led to a total halt of production so that all safety conditions were ensured,” the official says, adding that the return to work was “gradual”.
Speaking to TVI Thursday evening, Coindu’s manager Antonio Candido Pinto said that the cutting department “was already working” and that sewing would resume on Friday. “We appreciate that tomorrow [hoje] During the day the whole group is already working, “he said.
Marcus Tischner, for his part, said that the production that was canceled due to the forced suspension will be recovered “in the next few days using overtime,” so “there will be no impact on customers.”
There is no recent news of an incident of the kind that fell victim to a Portuguese company of such magnitude that it forced a halt. According to Antonio Candido Pinto’s description, “There was a computer attack” that started encrypting the company’s data. “We were left without access to our data. Fortunately, with the supervision system, in the first moments, we shut down the entire circuit immediately. Practically speaking, we shut down approximately 5,000 people in the group, but with this it was possible to reduce the damage.”
The case is in the hands of the Cyber Crime and Technology Crime Unit.
The company, founded in 1988 by a German family and two Portuguese entrepreneurs, had a turnover of around 350 million euros in 2018, last year with publicly available data. With four factories in three countries, it is one of the largest producers of textile components for the automotive industry.
The catalog includes seat covers, armrests, headrests and side panels. At Arcos de Valdevez, in addition to the business line dedicated to fashion, it produces components for the Porsche and Seat brands. According to the site, there were about 800 workers. In Joane (Famalicão) it serves Lamborghini and Mini, with 2,100 workers. The factory in Curtici (Romania) has BMW and Skoda as customers and employs around 1,500 people. Finally, in Tetla, Mexico, it has 1000 workers and produces for the brands of Audi and Volkswagen.
The customer group includes other manufacturers in the automotive sector, such as Peugeot, Citroen, Aston Martin, Renault, Rolls-Royce, Volvo, Mercedes and Lotus.
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