Security News > 2024 > February > German battery maker Varta halts production after cyberattack
Battery maker VARTA AG announced yesterday that it was targeted by a cyberattack that forced it to shut down IT systems, causing production to stop at its plants.
VARTA is a German manufacturer of batteries for the automotive, consumer, and industrial sectors, partially owned by Energizer Holdings.
"Last night, February 12th, 2024, the VARTA Group was the target of a cyber attack on parts of its IT systems," reads a press announcement shared by VARTA. "This affects the five production plants and the administration. The IT systems and, thus, production were proactively shut down temporarily for security reasons and disconnected from the internet."
VARTA says its current priority is to ensure data integrity, opting for proactive shutdowns that could help contain the IT systems breach.
Halting production operations in five plants with no clear timeline for restoring normal operations has resulted in VARTA's share price sliding by 4.75% following the announcement of the cyberattack.
BleepingComputer reached out to VARTA to learn more about the nature of the cyberattack and whether it involves data encryption, but a comment wasn't immediately available.