Fax machines make a comeback at Norsk Hydro following ransomware attack

LockerGoga ransomware attack in March saw a return to pen-and paper drawings and fax communications between offices

Aluminium producer Norsk Hydro has revealed that it has had to resort to the use of pen and paper to continue business following a ransomware attack in March.

According to a report by the BBC, "five weeks on, they're still recovering" and have had to dig out "long-since forgotten about paperwork". It was also revealed that workers have been "forced to use pen and paper".

Norsk Hydro is one of the leading manufacturers of aluminium, with 35,000 employees in 40 countries in every continent. The company serves over 30,000 customers worldwide.

On March 19th Norsk Hydro suffered a major attack on its network, which forced it to shut down or otherwise limit its use of technology for production of materials.

The attackers who delivered the ransomware demanded payment in return for full restoration of the company's services. It also resulted in a temporary shutdown of the company's website and updates on the situation had to be posted onto the company's social media pages.

Norsk Hydro is not alone in being attacked by this new variant of ransomware known as LockerGoga. France-based Altran Technologies in was also attacked in January. Both attacks have had catastrophic consequences for production and for profit. As reported in May by Computing the total cost of the cyber-attack on Norsk Hydro was revealed to be $52 million.

The attack appears to have had a financial motive rather than an act of hacktivism. The Norway-based company is still trying to overcome damage and has had to turn to manual operations to prevent further damage to production.

According to a blog post on Hydro's website, in the UK the customer service team has been taking orders via fax, WhatsApp and Facebook, while the network is repaired, with the technical department creating hand-drawn plans and diagrams.

The attack has led to long-term, extensive co-operation between Norsk Hydro's global premises in an effort to neutralise the extensive damage dealt by the individuals responsible and many fixes have and are being implemented and executive vice president of Hydro Extruded Solutions Egil Hogna stated: "we are getting very close to our normal output".