FedEx subsidiary ‘significantly affected’ by global hack
Logistics firm FedEx says deliveries by its TNT Express subsidiary have been slowed by the global cyberattack, another sign of how major companies are struggling to deal with the fallout from an especially virulent outbreak of data-scrambling software.
The Memphis-based company said yesterday it had been “significantly affected” by the malicious program, which emerged in Ukraine on Tuesday before spreading around the world.
FedEx said that the domestic, regional and intercontinental operations of TNT Express, a courier delivery unit, were “largely operational, but slowed.” The company added that the impact of the cyberattack “could be material.” FedEx shares were up 1.2 percent at $217 in New York yesterday. Companies and governments around the world counted the cost of the software epidemic that has disrupted ports, hospitals and banks. Ukraine, which was hardest hit and where the attack likely originated, said it had secured critical state assets — though everyday life remained affected, with cash machines out of order and airport displays operating manually.
As the impact of the cyberattack that erupted Tuesday was still being measured at offices, loading docks and boardrooms, the Ukrainian Cabinet said that “all strategic assets, including those involved in protecting state security, are working normally.”
But that still left a large number of nonstrategic assets — including dozens of banks and other institutions — fighting to get back online. Cash machines in Kiev seen by an Associated Press photographer were still out of order yesterday, and Ukrainian news reports said that flight information at the city’s Boryspil airport was being provided in manual mode.