Global cyber-attack hits Ukraine’s national bank, state power company and largest airport.
Organizations around the globe are reporting the impact of a widespread cyber-attack that was initially reported in the Ukraine on 27 June 2017.
According to the Independent newspaper, Ukraine’s national bank, state power company and largest airport are among the targets of a huge cyber-attack on government infrastructure. Russian energy firm Rosneft, Danish shipping company Maersk and the British advertising agency WPP have also been affected.
In addition, BBC News has reported that the offices of large multinationals such as food giant Mondelez and legal firm DLA Piper have also suffered attacks. Furthermore, French construction materials company St Gobain has said that it had fallen victim too.
Initial reports suggest the problem could be the result of a ransomware attack, similar to the widely reported WannaCry attack.
Images posted by Twitter users show affected computers and disabled cash points demanding a payment of $300 or £235 in Bitcoin to recover access to encrypted files.
Ransomware similar to Petya
Speaking to BBC News, Alan Woodward, a computer scientist at Surrey University, said: "It appears to be a variant of a piece of ransomware that emerged last year.
"It was updated earlier in 2017 by the criminals when certain aspects were defeated. The ransomware was called Petya and the updated version Petrwap."
In a statement, the National Bank of Ukraine said an “unknown virus” was to blame, saying several unnamed Ukrainian banks were affected along with financial firms.
“As a result of cyber attacks, these banks have difficulties with customer service and banking operations.”
Cyber-attack may have started via corrupted updates on accountancy software
Reports now suggest that the ransomware originated from corrupted updates on a piece of accountancy software MEDoc, although the company denies this.
According to BBC News, one way the ransomware breaches companies' cyber-defences is by hijacking an automatic software updating tool used to upgrade a tax accountancy program.
Once it has breached an organisation, it uses a variety of means to spread internally to other computers on the same network.
Learn more about ransomware
10 Things to Know About Ransomware infographic
Here you can find out what ransomware is and how you can prevent it from affecting your organization.
