Consulting group Accenture hit by cyberattack

Global consulting group Accenture confirmed Wednesday that it had been hit by a cyberattack, becoming the latest in a string of organizations in recent months to be targeted. 

CNN reported that the company had been the target of a ransomware attack by the LockBit cybercriminal group and that encrypted Accenture files would be released by the hackers at the end of the day Wednesday if the ransom was not paid. 

A spokesperson for Accenture on Wednesday did not comment on whether the attack was a ransomware attack or who was responsible but confirmed to The Hill that an attack had taken place. 

“Through our security controls and protocols, we identified irregular activity in one of our environments,” the spokesperson said in a written statement. “We immediately contained the matter and isolated the affected servers. We fully restored our affected servers from back up. There was no impact on Accenture’s operations, or on our clients’ systems.”

The company is massive, with more than 500,000 employees worldwide and offices in 200 cities across 50 countries, earning billions of dollars in revenue every year.  

According to cybersecurity group Emsisoft, the LockBit ransomware has been in existence since 2019 and has impacted thousands of groups worldwide. 

The attack comes on the heels of escalating ransomware and other cyberattacks against U.S. organizations. 

Attacks by two separate Russian-linked ransomware groups in May on Colonial Pipeline, which provides 45 percent of the East Coast’s fuel, and on meat producer JBS USA had crippling effects on critical supply chains.  

Hospitals, schools and government agencies have also increasingly been the victims of ransomware attacks, with hackers seeing these groups as vulnerable and more likely to pay.