Targus says it is facing major cyberattack, global operations hit

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Laptop and mobile computing accessories company Targus has suffered a cyberattack which forced the firm to shut down parts of its systems to prevent further disruptions.

B. Riley Financial, Targus’ parent company, confirmed the news in an 8-K form filed with the SEC, BleepingComputer reported.

Targus is a mobile computing accessories company that designs, manufactures, and sells laptop and tablet cases, computer accessories such as mice, keyboards, and privacy screens, as well as universal docking stations.

Attack contained

As per the filing, the company detected the breach on April 5, triggering its incident response protocols, which included shutting certain systems down.

"Upon discovery and with assistance from external cybersecurity counsel and consultants, Targus immediately activated its incident response and business continuity protocols to investigate, contain and remediate the incident," the company said in the 8-K filing.

"Through this process, proactive containment measures to disrupt unauthorized access resulted in a temporary interruption in the business operations of the Targus network."

The company said the attackers were contained and that internal systems are being recovered.

Usually, companies would shut down parts of their system when there is a threat of ransomware, or sensitive data exfiltration. However, we don’t yet know the nature of the attack, or if any sensitive data was stolen in the process. So far, no threat actors assumed responsibility for the attack.

In its writeup, TechCrunch reminds that the company was forced to quickly share the details of the incident because of a newly introduced rule by the SEC. This rule states that all cyber-incidents which could have a material impact on the company must be disclosed within 96 hours of their discovery. So far, Targus is not aware if this attack will have a material impact or not.

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Sead is a seasoned freelance journalist based in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. He writes about IT (cloud, IoT, 5G, VPN) and cybersecurity (ransomware, data breaches, laws and regulations). In his career, spanning more than a decade, he’s written for numerous media outlets, including Al Jazeera Balkans. He’s also held several modules on content writing for Represent Communications.