Garmin Confirms Ransomware Caused Massive Five-Day Global Outage
Fitness tech giant Garmin confirms that a ransomware attack encrypts internal systems and disrupts major online services for millions of users. The company reports no evidence of customer data theft while working to restore all affected platforms.
Sport and fitness tech giant Garmin confirms that a ransomware attack causes its recent five-day global outage. The company states that cybercriminals encrypt some of its internal systems on July 23, interrupting website functions, customer support, and company communications. Despite the severe disruption, Garmin insists there is no indication that customer data is accessed, lost, or stolen.
The attack takes down several critical online services that millions of users rely on, including Garmin Connect and flyGarmin. Garmin Connect syncs user activity and data to the cloud, while flyGarmin provides essential aviation navigation and route-planning tools for pilots. Sources identify the malicious software as WastedLocker, a file-encrypting ransomware linked to the Russian hacking group Evil Corp.
Because the U.S. Treasury sanctions Evil Corp, it is effectively illegal for Garmin to pay a ransom to retrieve its decrypted files. The incident causes Garmin's stock price to drop initially, but shares recover as the company actively restores its services. Garmin is currently working to fully remediate the attack and return all systems to normal operations.