In the first week of October, Estes Express Lines officially confirmed it was a victim of a cyberattack. The attack forced the company to shift to manual processes as a number of systems had been impacted. The cyberattack only had a partial impact on functionalities, and the company statement read “While we are unable to share specific details at this time, our terminals and drivers are effectively picking up and delivering freight while we work through this event.”
In such challenging times, Estes continued to function while working on the recovery, thanking their 22,000 employees for their dedication and responsiveness. The Richmond, Va.-based carrier also expressed its gratitude to the customers and vendors as they remained patient during the situation and also reached out to offer help.
In recent years, the trucking industry has become a hunting ground for cyber attackers, with Estes becoming the latest company to suffer data breaches.
Oct. 23 marked the end of their recovery from the cyberattack as Webb Estes, President and COO of Estes Express Lines, announced all the company’s operations were back to normal. The statement read, “We’re excited to announce that we’ve completely restored our systems capabilities and are back to business as usual!”
The aim at the time of recovery was not only to restore all operations but to make all systems even safer to use. Throughout the period of cyberattack and recovery, no official statement was shared regarding the potential loss due to the switch to manual operations. However, Webb Estes did heap praise on all the customers who remained patient and showcased loyalty to the company, stating “Your trust in us has helped drive efforts toward returning online quickly, responsibly and safely. We’ve hardened our technology environment, and we’re building back stronger than ever. Again, please accept my sincere thanks for your patience and trust.” Users can once again get quotes, request pickups, and track shipments online without any hassle.
Estes Express Lines is a reputed LTL (less-than-truckload) shipping company ranking 14th on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest for-hire carriers in North America. Since such a renowned company has been a victim of a large cyberattack, the event has once again raised concern for the entire trucking industry as the cybersecurity standards for most organizations remain below par. As cyber attackers will continue to target the trucking industry in the future because of the large revenue generated by the industry, companies nationwide look for better methods to prevent and react to such threats efficiently.
