RALEIGH – Bandwidth, a growing global provider of communications services such as 911 access to a host of tech giants, is “fully operational” again after being hit by a cyber attack that affected numerous services. The attack triggered an apology from Bandwidth’s CEO.
Bandwidth’s customers include Microsoft, Google, Zoom and many others that utilize internet-based services in Bandwidth’s product portfolio.
“Bandwidth and a number of critical communications service providers have been targeted by a rolling DDoS attack,” Bandwidth CEO David Morken wrote in a blog post Tuesday.
“While we have mitigated much intended harm, we know some of you have been significantly impacted by this event. For that I am truly sorry,” he added.
Whether the DDoS – or denial of service attack – was a ransomware attack is not known. Bandwidth declined comment.
“We’re not commenting beyond David’s blog post at this time – other than to say we’re currently fully operational,” a company spokesperson told WRAL TechWire early Wednesday.
The news sent Bandwidth (Nasdaq: BAND) shares down 5%, or nearly $5, on Tuesday. Shares fell nearly 2% in pre-market trading Wednesday.
Bandwidth, which is building a new headquarters in Raleigh, focuses on a variety of VoIP – or voice over internet protocol – for a growing suite of services. Since Bandwidth provides service across so many countries and to many clients, the impact was widely felt. And Morken acknowledged the impact.
“Bandwidth teams are actively investigating an incident impacting Standard Voice and V2 Voice calls with intermittent service disruptions,” the company said in one status update.
V2 refers to one of Bandwidth’s services that is important to its operations, having launched earlier this year.
“This [V2] allows for simpler, easier use alongside Bandwidth’s advanced number management, messaging, and 911 services, and provides a smarter, more cost-effective way for enterprises to scale their API-driven voice communications,” the company noted.
Tech news site SiliconAngle reported late Tuesday that other VoIP providers had been hit by similar attacks, including two that included ransomware demands.
‘Mission-critical’
“You trust us with your mission-critical communications,” Morken wrote to customers.
“There is nothing this team takes more seriously. We are working around the clock to support your teams and minimize the impact of this attack. Our account managers and support teams have been actively reaching out to customers individually to address any issues. If you are experiencing problems and you haven’t heard from us yet, please let us know.”
Just before midnight Tuesday, bandwidth updated customers with the news that: “After observing continued network stability, we consider this incident resolved. Teams will continue to monitor our network.”
Bandwidth also is providing updates at status.bandwidth.com
“We will not rest until we end this incident, and will continue to do all we can to protect against future ones,” Morken said.
