Computer systems across the globe were hit with a massive ransomware attack on Tuesday, extending from Russia to the U.S., which had similarities to an international cyber attack in May that impacted tens of thousands of computers, according to the New York Times.
The Ukrainian government said that “several of its ministries, radiation monitoring at the Chernobyl nuclear facility, local banks and metro systems had been affected,” the Times reported. Danish shipping-giant Maersk, Russian energy company Rosneft, French construction materials company Saint-Gobain and British advertising agency WPP also claimed to have been targeted.
U.S. Big Pharma company Merck and multinational law firm DLA Piper “confirmed that its global computer networks had been hit,” according to the Times.
It is not yet known who is responsible for the cyber-attack; indeed, the perpetrators of May 2017’s WannaCry attacks have not been found yet, either. “We are urgently responding to reports of another major ransomware attack on businesses in Europe,” Rob Wainwright, executive director of Europe’s police agency Europol, tweeted.
We are urgently responding to reports of another major ransomware attack on businesses in Europe @EC3Europol
— Rob Wainwright (@rwainwright67) June 27, 2017
Ransomware attacks lock users out of their system and force them to pay a ransom fee to unlock their computers and files. Tuesday’s ransomware attack gave victims this message on their screen: “Oops, your important files have been encrypted. If you see this text then your files are no longer accessible because they have been encrypted. Perhaps you are busy looking to recover your files but don’t waste your time.”
Source: Salon: in-depth news, politics, business, technology & culture > Politics
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