Brenner Base Tunnel company hit by cyberattack, weeks after Fehmarnbelt contractor

Hackers gained access to BBT SE data in mid-October. BBT SE is the company building the Brenner Base Tunnel between Austria and Italy. The Russian-speaking group Everest is suspected to have carried out the hack. It is the second cyberattack on a major rail tunnel project on the Scandinavian-Mediterranean (ScanMed) corridor in short succession, after the Fehmarnbelt tunnel contractor was also targeted. The Italian project company BBT SE is responsible for the design and construction of the Brenner Base Tunnel. The 64-kilometre underground railway connects Innsbruck (Austria) and Fortezza (Italy).

The hackers accessed some of BBT SE’s data that could be reached via the internet and was not meant for the public. BBT SE isolated the affected systems, hired external forensic experts and informed the authorities.

It is still unclear which systems the hackers reached and how much data they took. Everest listed BBT SE on its extortion site on 17 October and claims to have stolen 812 gigabytes of data. That figure has not been confirmed. Everest threatens to publish the material if negotiations fail. BBT SE did not say whether it has been in contact with the hackers or paid a ransom.

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