Cyber incident forces Canadian manufacturer to suspend operations

Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP) – the Valcourt, QC-based manufacturer of Ski-Doo snowmobiles and Sea-Doo personal watercraft – has revealed that it suffered a cyberattack so crippling that it has had to suspend its operations.

In a statement, the company said that on August 09, it determined that it had been the target of “malicious cybersecurity activity.” BRP then stated that it had “activated its internal network of IT professionals” in response to the cyber incident and had also retained the services of “cybersecurity experts” to help in securing the affected systems and support BRP’s internal investigation into the matter.

“Operations have been suspended temporarily, which may delay certain transactions with customers and suppliers,” BRP said in its statement.

The company statement did not elaborate on the nature of the cyberattack, whether it was ransomware or another type of breach, or if the attackers responsible had made any demands.

Financial Post reached out to the company for additional comment, but a spokesperson declined to disclose more information.

“Our teams continue working around the clock to resolve the situation and have made progress restoring some of our servers. At this time, we are targeting to resume our Valcourt manufacturing operations on Monday, August 15th,” the spokesperson said in an email statement. “The rest of our operations remain suspended temporarily, which may delay certain transactions with customers and suppliers. We thank everyone for their patience and understanding.”

The cyber incident comes as BRP recently made two major announcements: on August 07, it announced its return to motorcycle manufacturing with two electric engine bikes; and on August 09, it announced that its acquisition of Kongsberg Automotive ASA’s powersports business.