Freight giant Estes confirms data breach, but says it will not pay a ransom
The October 2023 cyberattack against Estes Express Lines was indeed ransomware, but the company has not yet demanded a ransom.
The company confirmed the news in an email recently sent to affected customers. The register reports.
According to the email, sent to approximately 21,000 people, threat actors gained access to the company's IT infrastructure on October 1, 2023 and managed to deploy ransomware. “Consistent with the standard recommendation of the FBI and financial regulators, Estes has not paid the ransom,” the letter said.
Completely restored
The company also filed a data breach notification with the Maine attorney general, saying criminals stole names, Social Security numbers and “other personal identifying information.” The Register speculates that threat actors have exfiltrated more than this due to “blank text in the letters.”
Estes did not share additional details, including the identity of the attackers, how they managed to compromise the company's endpoints (via malware or social engineering), what types of data they stole, who the data belonged to, or what it was a ransom. However, operators of the infamous LockBit ransomware have claimed responsibility for the attack, saying they leaked data stolen from the company.
Since the attack, Estes has notified police and other law enforcement agencies and managed to “fully” restore system capabilities. The FBI is currently investigating the matter, the report said.
Estes states that it is “not aware of any identity theft, fraud or financial loss resulting from this incident,” adding that it will provide affected customers with 12 months of free identity monitoring through Kroll.
Estes Express Lines is a privately owned American freight transportation provider based in Richmond, Virginia. The company was founded in 1931 by WW Estes and is still owned and operated by the Estes family. As the largest privately held LTL company in the United States, the company has approximately 20,000 employees, more than 6,700 tractors and 30,000 trailers, and a network of more than 240 terminals.