- Smartwatch maker Garmin's website, app, and call centers are down after it was reportedly the victim of a ransomware attack.
- Garmin confirmed the outage but did not say anything about its cause, including whether it was the result of a ransomware attack.
- ZDNet reported that the company shut down these services to deal with a ransomware attack, saying that it could be a strain of ransomware known as WastedLocker.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Smartwatch maker Garmin's website, Connect app, and call centers are down as the company is said to be grappling with the aftermath of a ransomware attack.
Garmin confirmed the outage on its website, but has not shared any information on the cause. ZDNet reported on Thursday evening that the company had shut down these services to deal with a ransomware attack, but the company has not confirmed this.
"We are currently experiencing an outage that affects Garmin.com and Garmin Connect," the company said in a statement on its website. "This outage also affects our call centers, and we are currently unable to receive any calls, emails or online chats. We are working to resolve this issue as quickly as possible and apologize for this inconvenience."
Business Insider has contacted Garmin with questions about whether a ransomware attack was tied to the shutdown, and whether any customer or employee data was compromised if so. We will update this story accordingly when we hear back.
In addition to impacting the company's consumer fitness products, the outage is also said to have affected the service that supports Garmin's line of aviation equipment, according to ZDNet, which cited conversations with pilots that use the software. Garmin has not yet responded to Business Insider's question about which Garmin products have been affected by the outage.
Garmin Connect is the companion app to the company's wearable devices for tracking workouts, participating in fitness challenges with friends, and managing health data. At the time of writing, services provided through Garmin Connect were still down, according to the company's status website.
Some Garmin users mentioned the outage on social media, expressing some frustration about the service being down.
Tweet Embed://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1286647664927481856?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Vexation over the Garmin debacle is needless. There are other ways of tracking your run stats. 😉 #running #runners #strava #garmin #tunchat pic.twitter.com/H55BQk9OlQTweet Embed:
//twitter.com/mims/statuses/1286301378571390983?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
🤣 How many people are feeling this today? Haha #Running #Fitness #Training #BibChat #RunChat #GarminConnect #Garmin pic.twitter.com/0u0he2w1nITweet Embed:
//twitter.com/mims/statuses/1286650078598438913?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Please send us your pictures of your @garmin watch 😂😂⌚️⏱🕰
We will get through this together 🙏🏻😢😢😢😢#StayStrongGarminUsers#SocialRunnersClub pic.twitter.com/06qkklutNRTweet Embed:
//twitter.com/mims/statuses/1286647895303782405?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Damn #Garmin I just want to view my runs. pic.twitter.com/uzxyRoXTm8Tweet Embed:
//twitter.com/mims/statuses/1286647425118208005?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
@Garmin status?!?!?! My first garmin product (fenix 5) arrived yesterday and can't set it up without your app.
It's unclear who was behind the reported ransomware attack, but it could be a strain of ransomware known as WastedLocker, according to ZDNet, which cited online posts from Garmin employees.
Attacks made using the WastedLocker ransomware are usually targeted at organizations, according to a blog post from cybersecurity software company Malwarebytes.
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