Michele D'Ottavio
Production to re-start on Monday at West Flemish company paralysed by ransom software
The Ieper (West Flanders) weaving-machine manufacturer Picanol has announced a “cautious” return to production from Monday morning. The company’s production lines have been idle all week after its IT system was paralysed by ransom software hackers. In a press statement released on Friday, Picanol announced that from Monday some production will resume.
The company has spent the last week carrying out checks and test on its IT system.
The company’s Frederic Dryhoel told journalists that “This afternoon (Friday) we told staff that we will be restarted production step by step. This will also be the case at our sites in Romania and China”.
Picanol is conscious of the fact that it may be some time yet before production returns to full capacity.
It is currently unable to give figures on how much the cyber-attack has cost it. Only once this is known can trading in Picanol shares on the Brussels Stock Exchange.