Global businesses, including shipping giant AP Moeller-Maersk, advertising firm WPP Group PLC and Russian oil company PAO Rosneft, reported significant cyber attacks Tuesday against their computer systems.
It was unclear how, or if, the attacks were related, but they spread simultaneously across Europe—with some early reports of affected companies in the US—on the heels of a global attack in May. That virus, dubbed WannaCry, inflicted most of its damage on European businesses and institutions.
The WannaCry malware locked computer systems that were old or weren't adequately patched, demanding ransom. The attack hit hospitals in the U.K., car factories in France and smaller businesses across the continent.
An adviser to Ukraine's interior minister said a version of the WannaCry virus had hit government computer systems in that country on Tuesday, Reuters reported, though the government said shortly after the nation's most critical systems were safe. Ukraine's national bank, state power company and largest airport are among the targets of a huge cyber attack on government infrastructure.
Rozenko Pavlo, the deputy Prime Minister, said he and other members of the Ukrainian government were unable to access their computers.
"We also have a network 'down'," he wrote. "This image is being displayed by all computers of the government."
The photo showed his PC displaying a message claiming a disk "contains errors and needs to be prepared", urging the user not to turn it off.
The extent of the operational disruption was unclear at the affected companies. Images from other affected computers and disabled cash points showed what appeared to be ransomware, demanding a payment of $300 (£235) in Bitcoin to re-gain access to encrypted files. Analysts said the virus, named Petrwrap or Petya, appeared to work similarly to the WannaCry ransomware that infected more than 230,000 computers in 150 countries last month. That attack hit NHS hospitals and trusts, Nissan and Renault, but there were no immediate reports of computers in the UK being affected on Tuesday. Ukrainian state-run aircraft manufacturer Antonov was among the companies hit, along with power distributor Ukrenergo, which said the attack did not affect power supplies. 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," a statement said. "The National Bank bank is confident that the banking infrastructure's defence against cyber fraud is properly set up and attempted cyber attacks on banks' IT systems will be neutralised."
Oschadbank, one of Ukraine's largest state-owned lenders, said some of its services had been affected by a "hacking attack" but guaranteed that customer data was safe.
Computers and departure boards at Boryspil International Airport in Kiev – the largest in Ukraine – were also down. "The official site of the airport and the scoreboard with the schedule of flights aren't working!" the airport's acting director, Pavel Ryabikin, wrote on Facebook. The Ukrposhta state postal service, television stations and transport were also affected by the attack, which left Kiev metro passengers unable to pay using bank cards.
Rosneft, a Russian government-owned oil firm, said it was also targeted by a "massive hacker attack" on its servers, as was steel maker Evraz.
"The cyber attack could lead to serious consequences, however, due to the fact that the Company has switched to a reserve control system, neither oil production nor preparation processes were stopped," a statement from Rosneft said. There were confirmed reports of the virus spreading to countries including Spain, France and India. The cyber attack— a day before Ukraine marks its Constitution Day — struck hours after a high-ranking intelligence officer was assassinated in a car bombing in Kiev.
The cyber attack— a day before Ukraine marks its Constitution Day — struck hours after a high-ranking intelligence officer was assassinated in a car bombing in Kiev.
Ukraine has blamed Russia for repeated cyber attacks targeting crucial infrastructure during the past three years, including one on its power grid that left part of western Ukraine temporarily without electricity in December 2015.
Denmark's shipping giant Maersk said on Tuesday that its computer systems had been brought down by a cyberattack. The breakdown is affecting multiple computer systems across several business units, a Maersk spokeswoman said, adding the company was assessing the situation. The company runs Maersk Line the world's largest container operator by capacity.
The spokeswoman said she couldn't provide details on how the computer outage was affecting the company's flagship business, Maersk Line, the world's largest container operator by capacity. WPP, the London based advertising conglomerate, said its I.T. systems across several companies were affected by a "suspected cyber attack" on Tuesday. "We are taking appropriate measures [and] will update asap," the advertising company said in a tweet.