IMI confirms hack, becomes latest engineering giant to face cyberattack

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British engineering company IMI plc notifies London Stock Exchange of a recent cyberattack
The company did not share the details, but this seems to have been a data breach

Top British engineering company IMI has confirmed suffering a cyberattack, filing a new report with the London Stock Exchange, notifying the securities exchange of “unauthorized access”.

“IMI is currently responding to a cyber security incident involving unauthorized access to the Company's systems,” the filing reads. “As soon as IMI became aware of the unauthorized access, the company engaged external cyber security experts to investigate and contain the incident.”

Other than that, the company did not share any details. It said it was taking “necessary steps” to comply with regulatory obligations, and that it will provide an update “when appropriate”.

Data breach

When reached out by TechCrunch, the company did not want to discuss the matter further, so we don’t know the nature of the attack, who the miscreants are, or how they managed to break into IMI’s infrastructure.

However the publication did find out, from the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office, that the company provided it with a data breach report, so it’s safe to assume that at least some company data was stolen.

The ICO is currently “assessing the information provided,” it was said.

IMI was founded in 1862 as Imperial Metal Industries. Its core business areas include precision engineering (advanced motion and fluid control solutions for industrial automation), critical engineering (valves and actuators for the energy and power industries), and hydronic engineering (heating, cooling, and climate control solutions for buildings).

The company serves sectors like oil and gas, pharmaceuticals, power generation, and transportation. In fiscal 2023, the company reported $398 million in profits before tax, up 6% compared to the year before.

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Sead is a seasoned freelance journalist based in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. He writes about IT (cloud, IoT, 5G, VPN) and cybersecurity (ransomware, data breaches, laws and regulations). In his career, spanning more than a decade, he’s written for numerous media outlets, including Al Jazeera Balkans. He’s also held several modules on content writing for Represent Communications.