MathWorks Confirms Ransomware Attack Behind Prolonged Outage

MathWorks has confirmed a ransomware attack as the source of widespread service outages that began on Sunday, May 18, disrupting critical applications used by its global customer base. The Natick, Massachusetts-based company, known for developing MATLAB and Simulink, reported that both internal and external systems were impacted. The company disclosed the breach on May 26 via its official status page and stated it had notified federal law enforcement. As of May 27, the License Center, Downloads, and other essential tools remain inaccessible, while some services, including MATLAB Online, MATLAB Mobile, and multi-factor authentication, have been partially restored.

The outage hit during a crucial time for academic institutions, with students reporting missed deadlines and limited access to assessment tools like MATLAB Grader and Cody, both of which were only recently restored for existing users. The licensing disruption also affected commercial customers, particularly those dependent on MathWorks’ cloud-based license verification. Users who haven’t signed in since October 11, 2024, continue to face authentication issues due to lingering account degradation, and new account creation remains offline. On forums such as Reddit, some users admitted to pirating the software out of frustration, citing lack of alternatives during critical phases of their work or research.

A detailed timeline on MathWorks' status page shows the company issued over a dozen updates between May 18 and 27, initially citing technical issues without naming ransomware. The full scope of the attack was not acknowledged until May 26. The company has not disclosed the identity of the ransomware group involved, nor whether a ransom has been paid or data exfiltrated. No known threat actor has claimed responsibility, fueling speculation that negotiations may be ongoing or a payment was quietly made. Recovery remains incremental, with cybersecurity experts assisting MathWorks in bringing affected services back online.