Alation confirms cyberattack after brief service disruption
The enterprise data firm disclosed unauthorised access to its systems, though it has not confirmed if data was stolen or identified the root cause.
Enterprise data and artificial intelligence company Alation has confirmed that it is investigating a cyberattack involving unauthorised access to its systems. The disclosure comes two days after the company reported a brief incident that caused degraded availability for some of its customers.
On Tuesday, Alation noted that an unspecified incident resulted in reduced service for a number of users, stating that the issue was resolved within an hour. On Thursday, the firm clarified that this event was an isolated incident involving unauthorised activity in one of its systems.
In a statement provided to TechCrunch by external representative Stephen Russell, Alation said it was conducting a thorough investigation into what occurred. The company indicated that it would provide additional information as appropriate but did not specify the nature of the attack or the root cause of the intrusion.
Alation, which provides software for searching files and data using natural language queries, services more than 500 global companies. Its client base includes approximately half of the US Fortune 1000. The company has not disclosed whether it has alerted customers to the incident or what defensive actions they should take.
Much of Alation’s infrastructure is hosted on Amazon Web Services. It is not yet clear if any data was exfiltrated during the incident. The company has not specified how many customers are affected by the breach.
This incident follows a series of recent cybersecurity events affecting large-scale technology firms. Earlier this month, several companies reported data thefts following a breach at European shipping giant Ceva Logistics, while hackers have also been targeting financial firms and private equity giants.
