New Computer Virus Spreads from Ukraine to disrupt World Business
A new virus from Ukraine is spreading around the globe, crippling thousands of computers, disrupting ports from Mumbai to Los Angeles and halting production at a chocolate factory in Australia.
The virus is believed to have first taken hold in Ukraine where it infected computers after users downloaded a popular tax accounting package or visited a local news site.
Danish shipping giant A. P. Moller- Maersk ( MAERSKb. CO) said it was struggling to process orders and shift cargoes, congesting some of the 76 ports around the world run by its APM Terminals subsidiary.
U.S. delivery firm FedEx Corp (FDX.N) said its TNT Express division had been significantly affected by the virus, which also wormed its way into South America, affecting ports in Argentina operated by China's Cofco.
The malicious code locked machines and demanded victims post a ransom worth $300 in Bitcoins or lose their data entirely, similar to the extortion tactic used in the global WannaCry ransomware attack in May.
More than 30 victims paid up but security experts are questioning whether extortion was the goal, given the relatively small sum demanded, or whether the hackers were driven by destructive motives rather than financial gain. Ukraine has repeatedly accused Russia of orchestrating attacks on its computer systems and critical power infrastructure.
The Kremlin, which has consistently rejected the accusations, said it had no information about the origin of the global cyber-attack, which also struck Russian companies such as oil giant Rosneft and a steelmaker.
Security researchers said this virus could leap from computer to computer once unleashed within an organization but, unlike WannaCry, it could not randomly trawl the internet for its next victims, limiting its scope to infect.
Users that installed Microsoft's latest security patches earlier this year and turned off Windows filesharing features appeared to be largely unaffected. (Call or email us for instructions).