ORBCOMM ransomware attack knocked out trucking fleet management and ELDs

ORBCOMM, a US provider of asset tracking and fleet management technology, was hit by a ransomware attack on September 6, 2023 that took down services used by trucking companies across the country.

The outage affected the company's FleetManager platform, its RCOM Reports service and its Blue Tree line of electronic logging devices, specifically the BT500 and BT504 models. Carriers could not track vehicles or freight, and drivers whose hours of service were recorded by the affected devices had to revert to paper logs. ORBCOMM said its other systems and service offerings remained fully operational, and that it had found no evidence that customers' own networks were at increased risk as a result of the incident.

Federal rules normally allow drivers to use paper records for only eight days in any 30 day period, which raised the prospect of compliance problems for carriers as the outage stretched on. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration granted relief permitting drivers using the affected devices to record hours on paper graph grids until ORBCOMM restored service or until September 29, 2023, whichever came first.

ORBCOMM brought in outside cybersecurity specialists and set a target of September 28 for full restoration of the Blue Tree product line and its supporting platforms. The company did not identify the group responsible, citing the confidential nature of the investigation.