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News Alert: Forward Air’s systems coming back online

Company not commenting yet on signs the ransomware attack may be over

Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves

Forward Air appears to be on the road to technological recovery after a ransomware attack that lasted at least a week.

The company’s website was up and running as of a check at approximately 7 a.m. EST Wednesday. Customers reported that the company is cautioning them that there still may be issues with the system. But the customers who spoke with FreightWaves said it does appear that connectivity is getting back to normal. 

One customer in particular said he had checked the status of some shipments in the Forward Air system and was able to pull up information, unlike the past several days of the ransomware attack. Another company said his Forward Air representative said the company was “safe … and operational.”

A spokesman for Forward Air said the company had no comment at this time.


The attack on Forward Air’s systems was severe enough that it brought in law enforcement and the company determined it was significant enough that it filed a report with the Securities & Exchange Commission. A shadowy group of hackers that calls itself Hades was said to be behind the attack.

One question that always comes up in these attacks and as they end is: Was ransom paid? Or were the hackers thwarted? And that is information that the victim of the ransomware attack keeps firmly under wraps.

Forward Air is a major LTL carrier, primarily for hauling freight between airports or from airports to customers or distribution centers.


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John Kingston, Eric Kulisch, Nate Tabak

John Kingston is editor at large at FreightWaves. Eric Kulisch is the air cargo editor at FrieghtWaves. Nate Tabak is the cyber security reporter at FreightWaves.