Circle-Sport Leavine Family Racing (CSLFR) was hit with a ransomware attack and their files were encrypted which jeopardized their team.

The Leavine team was hit with TeslaCrypt and their files were held ransom for $500. What was held hostage was car set ups, car part lists, and custom high-profile simulation packages valued at $2 million.

The computer had no backups and it was estimated by crew chief Dave Winston that it would take 1,500 man hours to recreate the data files.

The decision was made to pay the ransom as the encrypted files jeopardized the chances in the upcoming race. “The data that they were threatening to take from us was priceless, we couldn't go one day without it without it greatly impacting the team's future success. This was a completely foreign experience for all of us, and we had no idea what to do. What we did know was that if we didn't get the files back, we would lose years worth of work, millions of dollars, and be completely unable to compete in upcoming races,” Winston said.

Winston was unaware that TeslaCrypt had been abandoned and there were decryption keys available. They had to borrow an IT person from a different team to get the key to work and then they employed MalwareBytes to finish the clean up.

MalwareBytes will be coming on board as a full-time sponsor starting with the NASCAR race in Loudon, N.H.

Source: SCMagazine