No Ransom Paid in Woods Hole Ferry Cyberattack

FALMOUTH – The Steamship Authority did not pay a ransom in a cyberattack that took out the Cape Cod ferry company's online operations for several days earlier this month.

Steamship Authority General Manager Robert Davis told the authority's Port Council and Board at a June 22 meeting that no scheduled trips were canceled during the attack, which impacted online ticketing, reservations, and payments from June 2 through last week.

The company runs ferries between Woods Hole, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.

"Thanks to our incident response protocols, and the fast and diligent work of our employees, all existing customer reservations were honored, and no scheduled trips were canceled," Davis noted in a statement published on the Steamship Authority's website, which is up and running again. "Most importantly, at no time was the safety of our vessels affected."

"The Steamship Authority did not pay a ransom or engage with the cybercriminals," Davis stated.

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He added that the company is still working with third-party cybersecurity forensic investigators to find out exactly what happened.

According to the statement, most customer functions have been fully restored, including online and phone reservations and credit card systems at all locations.

An FBI investigation into the ransomware attack is ongoing.