CEO: Cyber Attack to Cost Maersk Up to USD 300 Mn

The cyber attack that hit Danish-based A.P. Moller – Maersk on June 27 is expected to damage the company’s business performance by up to USD 300-million in the upcoming quarter.

“Business volumes were negatively affected for a couple of weeks in July and as a consequence, our Q3 results will be impacted. We expect the cyber-attack will impact results negatively by USD 200-300 million,” Maersk group’s CEO Søren Skou said.

The vast majority of the impact of the cyber-attack was in Maersk Line, according to the group, with a huge blow on July revenue.

Maersk was one of many global companies to be hit by a malware later known as NotPetya, distributed through a Ukrainian accounting software called MeDoc, which is used for filing tax returns in Ukraine.

The MeDoc software contained backdoors into the networks of users of the software, which were used by the malware to enter via the software’s automatic update system.

As a result, Maersk shut down infected networks to contain the impact. However, the group’s container related businesses Maersk Line and APM Terminals took a major blow, with the latter being forced to close some of its terminals and divert ships.

“These system shutdowns resulted in significant business interruption during the shutdown period, with limited financial impact in Q2, while the impact in Q3 is larger, due to a temporary loss of revenue in July,” Maersk said.

Maersk Line, Damco and APM Terminals restored normal operations during the week of 3 July to 9 July.