Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1267313
JULY 2020 I DESIGN007 MAGAZINE 49 Ryder: It has been six figures several times over, but that's only in the cost of the replace- ment and equipment, etc.; that doesn't even begin to cover lost revenue. We were hard down for a full month in the Redmond facil- ity, and we were limping along for the first month in the Tucson facility. We've recently gone back to a more normal sense of business, but the website had to be rebuilt because they seized and locked that up, and the repercus- sions are devastating. If customers try to look at your website and it's down, they move on. Matties: There was relief for all customers when they learned that there was no data breach. What's the customer's attitude toward this? Ryder: Sympathetic, but the first question they have is, "Did they get my files?" For- tunately, that's not the MO of these people. They're seeking Bitcoin ransom money, so it's virtually untraceable. But I don't think that they have any clue whether they're talk- ing to a circuit board shop or an auto repair shop when they're encrypting your stuff. They don't care because they just want your money. Cormier: There are a few cases where there have been data breaches along with these, but some of these companies had been breached previously without any knowledge of it occur- ring. It was preemptive in certain instances. Ryder: Their goal is really about getting the cus- tomer's information, such as credit card and social security data. Files for a circuit board design are kind of useless unless you're build- ing that product. Matties: This happened in December, so it has been nearly a half-year process. Cormier: There were a lot of odds and ends. We were technically operational within 30 days, but there are a lot of different proprietary software packages and proprietary systems that had to be brought back online individu- ally, as well as the website. Those processes to get back to the pre-event condition have been close to a six-month window. The attack took out operating software for a lot of the equipment. It took out scripting for the front end, the CAM side of things, and all that was stuff we had built up over years and years of experience. They were able to encrypt the backup on all that. As Eric pointed out, we had to start from scratch. It took us years to accumulate all the technology and soft- ware programs that we had, and Eric and his team have been able to fix that in a few short months—a Herculean task. Matties: With every disaster, there tends to be a silver lining. Any silver lining here? Cormier: We've been able to implement new technology that we didn't have before. And it's a lot more end-to-end encryption for custom- ers' safety. And there are new processes in- house, too. Ryder: We'll be a lot more secure than we had ever been before. Matties: And there's no doubt you're going to carry that forward. Until it happens to you, you have no idea how devastating it can be. How was the law enforcement aspect of this? Was there an investigation? Cormier: The Department of Homeland Secu- rity was helpful in pointing us in the direc- tion of assessing whether we'd be able to have assistance in recovering from this, but there wasn't much in the way of investigation, or contact from them or the sheriff's office and local authorities. It was fairly minimal, to be honest. We've been able to implement new technology that we didn't have before.