On 21 November 2018, machinery manufacturer KraussMaffei (KM, Munich / Germany; www.kraussmaffei.com) was the target of a cyber attack. The company took all of its servers offline, including in China, and at the time had "only limited electronic access." KraussMaffei informed customers of the incident and "responded immediately by launching an investigation and has informed the relevant authorities." The group's emails and landline phone systems were affected, and customers were told to use sales and service contacts’ cell phones. An information page was also set up and updated for customers and suppliers.

On 7 December, the company noted that most of its sites were unaffected. It also said manufacturing and production at the affected sites (including in Munich), which were restricted during the prior two weeks, were being ramped up to process orders. Regarding targeting the Munich location, a company spokesperson told Plasteurope.com that "this was probably the main aim." In addition, there was no evidence that customer data was affected by the attack, but "parts of the IT infrastructure by and large," which includes both machinery controls and office computers.

While digitalisation offers faster processes and new business opportunities, it also carries certain risks. The attackers in this case infected the group's systems with ransomware, which rendered important files inaccessible, and demanded a ransom be paid from KraussMaffei. The amount demanded is unknown. Ransomware is a type of malware that can target and infect servers, encrypt the data there and then demand a ransom payment to decrypt the files.