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Garmin confirms ransomware cyberattack shut down services

Garmin confirmed its server outage was the result of a malware cyberattack that encrypted several of its online systems.

While Garmin did not say who was responsible for the attack, the company did label itself as a “victim,” saying later in the release that it “did not expect any material impact to our operations or financial results because of this outage.”

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Garmin reassured customers that no personal data from users was stolen in the attack.

“We have no indication that any customer data, including payment information from Garmin Pay, was accessed, lost, or stolen,” the company said in its statement. Garmin declined to offer additional details to Digital Trends.

The massive outage on July 23 took down Garmin Connect, the network controlling data syncs for Garmin’s personalized wearables and online apps. While most affected systems are now coming back online, response times are low, with Garmin’s app still down for service.

The flyGarmin service used by aircraft pilots is still unresponsive, forcing fliers to use other services to stay in compliance with Federal Aviation Administration rules, according to BleepingComputer.

A ransomware program called WastedLocker was reportedly identified as the tool behind the malware attack, according to ZDNet.

The company expects that all systems will return to functional order in the next several days, as the information collected during the outage is processed.

However, some systems and services remained down as of Monday morning.

“As our affected systems are restored, we expect some delays as the backlog of information is being processed,” the company noted on an FAQ about the outage.

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