MathWorks, the developer of MATLAB, suffered a ransomware attack that disrupted its IT infrastructure, including internal systems and online applications. The incident began on May 18, causing outages across critical platforms such as the career page, cloud center, store, and file exchange, while MATLAB Online and MATLAB Mobile were restored by May 24. The attack impacted 6,500 employees and millions of users primarily engineers, scientists, and academic institutions (6,500+ universities) relying on MATLAB for computation and data analysis. Federal law enforcement was notified, and cybersecurity experts were engaged to mitigate the breach. As of the latest update, several MathWorks web pages remained offline, with investigations ongoing. The attack aligns with a broader 2024 trend where ransomware accounted for nearly 50% of confirmed breaches, per Verizon’s report. While no explicit data theft was confirmed, the operational disruption and potential exposure of internal/employee systems suggest severe internal and reputational risks.
Source: https://therecord.media/matlab-developer-bringing-systems-online-ransomware
TPRM report: https://www.rankiteo.com/company/the-mathworks_2
"id": "the0645406112825",
"linkid": "the-mathworks_2",
"type": "Ransomware",
"date": "6/2024",
"severity": "85",
"impact": "5",
"explanation": "Attack threatening the organization’s existence"{'affected_entities': [{'customers_affected': {'institutions': '6,500 colleges '
'and '
'universities',
'user_base': 'millions of '
'individual users'},
'industry': 'software development (numeric computing)',
'location': {'headquarters': 'Massachusetts, USA',
'offices': '30+ across Europe, Asia, and '
'North America'},
'name': 'MathWorks',
'size': {'employees': '6,500',
'users': 'millions (engineers, scientists, '
'academic institutions)'},
'type': 'private company'}],
'customer_advisories': [{'content': 'Initial notification of ransomware '
'attack and outages.',
'date': '2024-05-20'},
{'content': 'Update on restoration of MATLAB Online '
'and MATLAB Mobile; ongoing '
'investigation.',
'date': '2024-05-21'}],
'date_detected': '2024-05-18',
'date_publicly_disclosed': '2024-05-20',
'description': 'The developer of MATLAB, MathWorks, experienced a ransomware '
'attack that disrupted its IT systems, including online '
'applications and internal systems. The attack impacted '
'multiple MATLAB tools and parts of the MathWorks website, '
'such as the career page, cloud center, store, and file '
'exchange. MATLAB Online and MATLAB Mobile were restored by '
'May 24, but other systems remain offline as of May 28. The '
'company notified federal law enforcement and is working with '
'cybersecurity experts to restore affected systems.',
'impact': {'brand_reputation_impact': 'Potential reputational damage due to '
'prolonged outages affecting millions '
'of users, including engineers, '
'scientists, and academic institutions.',
'downtime': {'end': None,
'services_restored': [{'restored_date': '2024-05-24',
'service': 'MATLAB Online'},
{'restored_date': '2024-05-24',
'service': 'MATLAB Mobile'}],
'start': '2024-05-18'},
'operational_impact': 'Disruption to internal operations and '
'customer-facing services, including '
'cloud-based tools and website '
'functionalities.',
'systems_affected': ['online applications',
'internal systems',
'career page',
'cloud center',
'store',
'file exchange',
'MATLAB tools']},
'investigation_status': 'ongoing (as of May 28, 2024)',
'ransomware': {'data_encryption': 'Likely (implied by ransomware attack)'},
'references': [{'source': 'MathWorks Customer Update (May 20, 2024)'},
{'source': 'MathWorks Customer Update (May 21, 2024)'},
{'source': 'Verizon Data Breach Report (2024)'}],
'regulatory_compliance': {'regulatory_notifications': {'federal_law_enforcement': True}},
'response': {'communication_strategy': {'customer_updates': [{'date': '2024-05-20',
'details': 'Initial '
'disclosure '
'of '
'outages '
'and '
'ransomware '
'confirmation.'},
{'date': '2024-05-21',
'details': 'Update '
'on '
'system '
'restoration '
'progress.'}],
'media_statements': None},
'incident_response_plan_activated': True,
'law_enforcement_notified': {'details': None,
'federal_agencies': True},
'remediation_measures': 'Restoration of MATLAB Online and MATLAB '
'Mobile by May 24; ongoing efforts to '
'bring other systems back online.',
'third_party_assistance': {'cybersecurity_experts': True,
'details': None}},
'title': 'Ransomware Attack on MathWorks Disrupts MATLAB IT Systems',
'type': 'ransomware'}