WASHINGTON, Nov 2 ― Boeing said yesterday it is investigating a cyber incident impacting elements of the company's parts and distribution business and is cooperating with law enforcement.

Boeing acknowledged the incident days after the Lockbit cybercrime gang said on Friday it had stolen "a tremendous amount” of sensitive data from the US planemaker that it would dump online if Boeing didn't pay ransom by November 2.

Boeing declined to comment on whether it had attributed the cyber incident to Lockbit.

"This issue does not affect flight safety,” a Boeing spokesperson said. "We are actively investigating the incident and coordinating with law enforcement and regulatory authorities. We are notifying our customers and suppliers.”

Lockbit was the most active global ransomware group last year based on the number of victims it claimed on its data leak blog, according to the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).

The hacking group typically deploys ransomware on a victim organisation's system to lock it up and also steals sensitive data for extortion.

Lockbit has made 1,700 attacks on US organisations since its ransomware was first seen on Russian-language-based cybercrime forums in January 2020, CISA said in June. ― Reuters