GBI Genios, a database company used by many media outlets in Germany, announced Tuesday that its servers were unavailable “due to a massive computer attack.”
In an article on LinkedInGenios said the incident was a ransomware attack and warned: “Unfortunately, we have to assume a multi-day outage.”
“Our communication options are also limited. We will inform you as soon as we can predict when access will be possible again. We apologize for the inconvenience caused and hope for your understanding,” the statement added.
The Munich-based company is a subsidiary of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and the Handelsblatt Media Group. Alongside media entities, the company’s databases are widely used by universities and libraries.
Its offerings include text-searchable newspaper archives, as well as business intelligence, analytical records and e-books.
A spokesperson for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung said its systems and subsidiaries were not affected.
“Only applications from our archives, hosted by Genios, are currently unavailable,” the newspaper adds.
Genios also provides a database called WISO to higher education institutions, which is also unavailable, because confirmed by the University of Kempten. Allgäu Region School of Applied Sciences starts this year announcement was the target of a criminal cyberattack which forced the institution to decommission its IT infrastructure.
“Database provider Genios is working on a solution. Unfortunately, at the moment we have to assume that there will be a multi-day outage. As soon as WISO is available again, we will inform you here,” said Kempten.
THE University of Giessen And Heilbronn Municipal Library also announced that they were affected by the Genios incident as customers of the company. There is no indication that the attackers were able to use their access to Genios to target its customers.
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