Black and White Cabs

Black and White Cabs operates as a taxi cab company providing passenger transport services in Australia. The organisation manages dispatch, administration, and booking systems to coordinate its fleet and customer requests. A significant portion of its business, specifically phone‑based bookings, accounts for over eighty percent of its operations. Customers can request rides through telephone channels, which are processed via the company’s booking platform. The service is designed to support both individual passengers and corporate accounts requiring reliable ground transportation.

The company’s distinguishing attribute is its heavy reliance on telephone bookings as the primary mode of service delivery. This operational model differentiates it from many competitors that have shifted toward app‑based or online booking platforms. The reliance on legacy dispatch and booking infrastructure makes the organisation particularly vulnerable to disruptions affecting those systems. In January 2023, a CryptoLocker ransomware attack encrypted the network, disrupting dispatch, administration, and booking functions. The incident forced a temporary shutdown of customer‑facing services while the company worked to contain the threat and restore operations.

In response to the attack, Black and White Cabs engaged external cybersecurity experts and its internal IT team to conduct a forensic investigation. The incident was reported to the Australian Cyber Security Centre as part of the organisation’s obligations under national cyber‑security reporting frameworks. Although no evidence of customer data compromise was found, the company implemented additional security measures as a precautionary step. Restoration efforts prioritised containment, allowing phone bookings to resume after partial system recovery. The episode highlighted the importance of robust cyber‑defences for transport providers that depend on critical dispatch and booking technologies.