France's CMA CGM has reconnected its e-commerce network some two weeks after it was crippled by a damaging cyber-attack.

All of its e-commerce sites are "once again live" and booking portals for pricing and container tracking are "up and running", the liner operator said.

The company was hit on 27 September by a strain of ransomware called Ragnar Locker, which encrypts computer files and renders them unusable until the victim pays for access to be restored.

Since then, the world's third largest liner operator has been working flat-out to deal with the problem.

The e-commerce systems of two of its subsidiaries, Mercosul in Brazil and its Baltic feeder company Containerships, have been fully operational systems since early October.

But the main booking sites of CMA CGM – and its subsidiaries ANL and CNC – were only restored yesterday.

These are again "up and running" for handing bookings, tracking, route finder, pricing and invoices, the line said.

"Applications and essential functionalities are now operational and secured," the company added.

Bad timing

The attack on CMA CGM's systems came at a bad time for the Marseilles-based liner operator.

The company caused a network outage just as Chinese shippers were rushing to ship containers before the Golden Week holiday in the first week of October.

CMA CGM was forced to take down its e-commerce sites to prevent the malware from spreading.

The liner giant subsequently instructed shippers to seek alternative means of booking cargoes.

The company was able reconnect some of its back office services in the first week of the attack but has warned of a possible data breach.

CMA CGM has not given an estimate of the extent of the financial damage caused by the cyber-attack.

But the disruption points to a costly episode for the liner operator.

In 2017, AP Moller-Maersk was forced to beef up security after a high-profile NotPetya onslaught in 2017 hit its digital network at a cost of $300m.

Mediterranean Shipping Coin April and Cosco Shipping in the US in July 2018.

The attack has raised questions about whether the liner sector is prepared to deal with the cyber threat.

Earlier this month, the International Maritime Organization squared up to a cyber-attack on its London headquarters.