Update 31 July: Reuters has reported it has seen transcripts of communication between a representative of CWT and the hackers behind the cyber threat in which the TMC agreed to pay a ransom of US$4.5 million to have its data deleted from the hackers' servers. The hackers allegedly originally requested $10 million but CWT negotiated the payment down due to the impact of Covid-19 on its revenues. BTN Europe reached out to CWT, but a company spokesperson neither confirmed nor denied the payment and declined to provide further comment.
Travel
management company CWT fended off a cyber threat this week, taking action that
temporarily affected clients’ ability to book travel online.
The
company stresses there is no evidence that any customer or traveller
information has been compromised.
A
statement from the TMC said it became aware of an “external cyber threat” last
weekend and “took action by
systematically shutting down its systems in order to neutralise the potential
issue”.
Having dealt with
the issue, its systems are now being brought back into service “once
forensically tested”.
The statement
continues: “We are pleased to be making good progress on restoring customer-facing
functions and booking capabilities, and online booking tool functionality is
back to normal. Residual email and phone issues are being addressed as a
priority.
“Once again we
apologise for any service interruption and we are working round the clock to
clear any backlogs. We greatly appreciate your patience and support during this
time.
“There is no
indication that any customer or traveller information has been compromised. CWT
takes the integrity of systems and data very seriously and continues to
complete its forensic investigation into this matter.”