Pitney Bowes: Can we be frank? Ransomware has borked our dead-tree post systems

Article originally published on https://www.theregister.co.uk

Venerable stamp-machine maker stalled by server infection

Pitney Bowes, the US stamping meter maker, has been infected with ransomware, leaving customers unable to top-up their equipment with credit nor access the corporate web store.

“At this time, the company has seen no evidence that customer or employee data has been improperly accessed,” it said in a statement today.

“Our technical team is working to restore the affected systems, and it is working closely with third-party consultants to address this matter. We are considering all options to expedite this process and we appreciate our customers’ patience as we work toward a resolution.”

Users of the manufacturer’s SendPro postage meter products will still be able to use their kit for US mailings if they have credits pre-loaded, but won’t be able to refill them once they run out, because account access has been locked down amid the malware intrusion. Using Sendpro to print delivery forms for shipments to the UK and Canada is not available for the moment.

The venerable franking business has been supplying postage charge and shipping label printers for over a century, and has millions of customers around the world. In the last decade it has been trying to reinvent itself as a global e-commerce enabler and shifting more of its business online. Today’s news won’t help that.

The quandary Pitney Bowes now finds itself in is to pay or not to pay – and that depends on the extent of the infection and the state of the IT department’s preparations. The FBI is now taking a softer line on paying off crooks who unleash file-scrambling extortionware on networks. Pitney Bowes will no doubt be keen to avoid the $300m loss made by shipping goliath Maersk when it was hit with the NotPetya ransomware.

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