NHS-style hacking attack goes global
UK giant WPP hit as criminals demand cash to restore files
BRITISH advertising giant WPP was yesterday crippled by a global cyber attack, which brought banks, government offices and power stations around the world to their knees. Ruthless hackers used a ‘ransomware’ virus to hijack people’s computers, and threatened to stop them working altogether if they did not pay £235 per machine.
In an increasingly familiar scenario, the National Cyber Security Centre – part of intelligence agency GCHQ, confirmed a ‘global ransomware incident’.
The global hack comes just a month after the WannaCry virus paralysed the NHS. But the attack sweeping the world yesterday is thought to be much more dangerous because this time there is no so-called ‘kill switch’ to stop it.
By the time reports of a hack surfaced in Britain, the virus had already swept across Ukraine, crippling government buildings, banks and closing Kiev airport.
Ukraine’s deputy prime minister Pavlo Rozenko posted a picture of his darkened screen, with an English-language warning telling him: ‘One of your disks contains error… DO NOT TURN OFF YOUR PC! IF YOU ABORT THIS PROCESS, YOU COULD DESTROY ALL YOUR DATA!’
Other victims received messages telling them th th they would ld not tb be able to recover their key computer files unless they paid to subscribe to the hackers’ ‘decryption key’.
According to some reports, Chernobyl nuclear power plant had to start monitoring radiation levels manually after its sensors were shut down – although the plant insisted it was running normally.
WPP confirmed in a statement that several of its companies had been affected by a cyber attack.
British law firm DLA Piper, the Russian energy giant Rosneft, and Danish shipping firm AP MollerMaersk were also hit by the virus.
Other attacks were reported across Europe. Cyber- security experts said the virus was a version of the so- called Petya ran- somware, which hi h can be bought online for as little as £22.
But in a sign that hackers are becoming increasingly sophisticated, security firm Kaspersky Lab claimed it was a new kind of ransomware virus that had not been seen before. The specialists said it had spread to around 2,000 people and organisations by late yesterday afternoon.
The WannaCry hack which crippled the NHS was thought to have come from North Korea. But one expert described the latest attack as ‘ Wannacry without the kill switch’, which was discovered by a 22-year-old surfing enthusiast.
Ken Spinner, from data security company Varonis, said: ‘ This attack doesn’t just encrypt data for a ransom – but instead hijacks computers, and prevents them from working altogether.
‘The implications of this spread far and wide, and can affect everything from government to banks to transportation.’
Only eight people had paid up as the attack took hold yesterday afternoon, but that number was expected to climb quickly.
Cyber security firm Recorded Future said attacks of this scale would only increase because hackers found them so lucrative.
It is thought the virus targets the same weakness in Microsoft’s Windows system as WannaCry. People seeking to protect themselves should download the latest security updates for Windows.