Rackspace ‘Unable To Provide’ Timeline For Restoring Email After Ransomware Attack

Solution providers are stepping up to help frustrated Rackspace customers migrate to Microsoft 365.

Six days after it suffered a ransomware attack, Rackspace Technology said Wednesday that it’s unable to tell when normal email service will be restored to apparently thousands of hosted Microsoft Exchange customers.

The cloud-computing company once again asked for customers’ patience and suggested temporary email fixes as the Windcrest, Texas-based Rackspace continues to investigate the attack that apparently started late last week and led to ongoing disruptions of email services for thousands of customers.

“While the investigation is ongoing and in its early stages, at this time, we are unable to provide any timeline or expectations for restoration to the Hosted Exchange environment,” the company said in its blog post on Wednesday. “We are working to provide customers with archives of inboxes where available.”

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As it has before, the publicly traded company said it’s doing everything possible, including devoting as many employees as possible, to resolving the problems surrounding the disrupted service.

“We have assisted thousands of customers to date, and we want to assure any customers who still need to access their email that Rackers are working hard to get them access to email as soon as possible,” the company said.

The blog post added: “We know that there have been long hold times, and in response, we‘ve added surge capacity to our support staff to help walk customers through the (Microsoft 365) migration process. We are also partnering with Microsoft’s Fast Track team to add resources to our extended team to better assist customers with troubleshooting and any technical questions.”

But Rackspace, which has been heavily criticized for lack of transparency and accessibility during the outage crisis, continued to be tight-lipped about what customer information might have been accessed.

“The investigation is in its early stages,” it said. “We will continue to investigate and share additional information with customers regarding the impact of this incident on customer data as needed.”

In Wednesday’s blog update, Rackspace handled the post in a question-and-answer format, with Rackspace posing questions to itself that apparently many people have been asking the company.

But in many cases, Rackspace provided no detailed responses, citing the ongoing investigation, about who might have launched the attack, how it happened, and whether a ransom was paid.

“Our investigation into the incident is ongoing and will take time to complete,” was the initial response by Rackspace to a number of questions.

Like it has over the past six days, Rackspace offered guidance on temporary solutions, most notably on how to migrate to Microsoft 365.

But many companies are apparently having trouble migrating to Microsoft 365.

Some channel partners were stepping up to help customers’ move to Microsoft 365, such as Colorado Computer Support in Colorado Springs, Colorado

“It’s never a good day when your primary resource experiences a security incident and you can’t access your emails,” the company wrote on its website. “What’s worse is not knowing if essential emails you’ve been expecting from customers or vendors are retrievable.”

But the post added: “The best part is that Colorado Computer Support has tools you can use to ensure your email will continue to flow.”

Blake Schwank, CEO of Colorado Computer Support who recorded a video message about the Rackspace shutdown, could not be reached by CRN for further comment.

Another firm offering to help Rackspace customers is BridgeheadIT, based in San Antonia, Texas, near Rackspace’s headquarters in the Lone Star State.

“As a Microsoft Gold partner that specializes in a variety of technology solutions, including cloud-based productivity solutions, Bridgehead IT is best-equipped to assist businesses with migration to Office 365,” the company said on its website.

“Our team of experts has extensive experience in helping businesses migrate their data and applications to the cloud, and we offer a range of services to make the process as smooth and stress-free as possible.”

The CEO of BridgeheadIT could not be reached by CRN for further comment.