In mid-April 2023, Rheinmetall’s business unit, the company’s civilian business, was attacked using a “strictly segregated IT infrastructure”. The incident coincided with reports that Rheinmetall was in talks to build a new tank factory in Ukraine.

what is known

The company emphasized the defense unit producing military equipment, weapons and ammunition was not affected and continues to operate normally.

Now, the company said that it continues to work to eliminate the consequences of the attack and informed the relevant authorities about what happened, and also “he gave a statement to the Cologne Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office to open a criminal case”. Rheinmetall confirms this Black Basta usurper group was behind the attackwho posted information about this attack on the darknet site earlier this week. The criminals also added samples of data allegedly stolen from Rheinmetall. These include confidentiality agreements, technical drawings, passport scans and purchase orders. The company does not comment on the authenticity of the documents.

What is known about Black Basta

The BlackBasta hacker group started its activities in April 2022 and has recently carried out several successful attacks on well-known organizations:

• On May 7, 2023, the group announced an attack on ABB, a leading provider of electrification and automation technologies.
• In April 2023, BlackBasta hacked the system of Canadian directory publisher Yellow Pages Group, stealing confidential documents and data.
• On March 22, 2023, attackers infiltrated the corporate network of Capita, a British outsourcing service giant contracted with various departments of the UK government and military.
• Among the victims of BlackBasta were Knauf, the American Dental Association, Sobeys.
• At the end of last year, experts from the company SentinelOne reported on the possible connection of Black Basta with the well-known hacking group FIN7.

Rheinmetall and Ukraine

• In May 2023, it became known that the Rheinmetall concern has formed a joint venture with Ukroboronprom. The company does not just want to produce tanks in Ukraine – read here what else is in their plans.
• Rheinmetall delivered Skynex air defense systems to Ukraine.
• The company is also building a center for the repair of military equipment in Romania.
• The Rheinmetall management has repeatedly declared its readiness to produce the necessary military equipment for Ukraine, in particular the Panther KF51 battle tank, which has been called “the most powerful battle tank in the world”.
• Rheinmetall also manufactures Leopard tanks.