Fraud Management & Cybercrime , Ransomware

Ransomware Attack Disrupts Operations at MKS Instruments

Semiconductor equipment maker MKS Instruments told federal regulators it is temporarily suspending operations at some facilities after experiencing a ransomware attack last week.

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The Massachusetts-based manufacturer said the incident affected business systems "including production-related systems."

The MKS website remained offline at publication, stating, "Unfortunately, www.mks.com is experiencing an unscheduled outage. Please check back again at a later time."

MKS Instruments provides instruments, subsystems and process control solutions that measure, control, power, monitor and analyze various parameters of manufacturing processes to improve process performance and productivity.

Eric Hanselman, a research analyst with S&P Global Market Intelligence, tells Information Security Media Group that an attack on a factory equipment vendor, rather than a semiconductor manufacturer, will have a limited short-term effect on semiconductor markets.

Semiconductor demand has been slowing, he said, leaving more margin for fabrication plants.

"Maintenance and repair are areas that would be more impacted in the short term, as spare or replacement parts could be impacted by the attack. The build-out of new capacity is less likely to see significant delays, as these are projects with much longer timelines," Hanselman said.

In its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company says it is "working diligently to complete the investigation and restore the company's systems and impacted operations as quickly as possible."