IT thriller at AGCO/Fendt 

Created: 05/11/2022, 13:40

By: Angelica Hirschberg

Most of the Fendt employees are still at home.

© Michael Durr

Marktoberdorf – After the cyber attack on the agricultural engineering group AGCO last week, the production lines at the subsidiary Fendt in Marktoberdorf are still standing still (we reported).

According to the tractor manufacturer in the district town, IT is working at full speed to repair the damage.

In the meantime, the central office for cybercrime in Bavaria is also investigating the Fendt hacker attack.

It is still uncertain when tractors will roll off the assembly line in Marktoberdorf again.

The company did not confirm rumors that production could resume later in the week.

There is no new information, said a company spokeswoman when asked by the district messenger.

"It may take longer," it said last Friday in the only official statement by the US company to date.

However, all events planned for next week, such as the presentation of the new training workshop on Monday, May 16, or the “Smart Production Day” organized jointly with the city on May 19 in the Fendt Forum, should take place regularly, according to the Fendt spokeswoman.

As reported, the American agricultural engineering group AGCO, together with its subsidiaries and various production sites worldwide, fell victim to an attack with so-called ransomware.

The group had already announced this on Friday, May 6th.

Ransomware (from English ransom for "ransom") is malware that hackers can use to prevent the computer owner from accessing their data, using it or the entire computer system.

The blackmailers then demand a ransom for the release of the decryption code.

There is currently no information as to whether there is a ransom demand in the case of the cyber attack on AGCO.

Nevertheless, the central office Cybercrime Bayern together with the Kripo Kempten started the investigation into the matter of Fendt.

This was confirmed by senior public prosecutor Thomas Goger from the central office in Bamberg.

However, he did not want to comment on the details of the investigation, which could not be expected until the middle of next week at the earliest.

The parking spaces at the German headquarters of Fendt in Marktoberdorf have been swept empty for days now, and most of the around 4,000 employees are at home.