Cyber attack hits 200 000 victims so far

AN unprecedented global cyber attack has hit more than 200 000 victims in scores of countries, Europol said yesterday, warning that the situation could escalate when people return to work.

An international manhunt was well under way for the plotters behind what was being described as the world’s biggest-ever computer ransom assault.

The indiscriminate attack, which began on Friday, struck banks, hospitals and government agencies in more than 150 countries, exploiting known vulnerabilities in old Microsoft operating systems.

US package delivery giant FedEx, European car factories, Spanish telecoms giant Telefonica, Britain’s health service and Germany’s Deutsche Bahn rail network were among those hit.

Europol executive director Rob Wainwright said the situation could worsen today as workers return to their offices after the weekend and log on.

“We’ve never seen anything like this,” the European Union’s policing agency said.

“The latest count is over 200 000 victims in at least 150 countries. Many of those victims will be businesses, including large corporations.

“I’m worried about how the numbers will continue to grow when people go to work and turn on their machines.”

Images appear on victims’ screens demanding payment of ß275 (R4 000) in the virtual currency Bitcoin, saying: “Ooops, your files have been encrypted!”

Payment is demanded within three days or the price is doubled, and if none is received within seven days the locked files will be deleted, according to the screen message.

Experts and governments alike warn against ceding to the demands and Wainwright said few victims so far had been paying up. “Paying the ransom does not guarantee the encrypted files will be released,” the US Department of Homeland Security’s computer emergency response team said.

“It only guarantees that the malicious actors receive the victim’s money, and in some cases, their banking information.”

The culprits used a digital code believed to have been developed by the US National Security Agency -- and subsequently leaked as part of a document dump, according to researchers at Moscow-based computer security firm Kaspersky Lab.

Europol’s Wainwright said the attack was unique because the ransomware was combined with a “worm” – meaning the infection of one computer could automatically infect an entire network.

Microsoft said the situation was painful and that it was taking all possible actions to protect customers.