Massive cyberattack goes global
A massive wave of cyberattacks hit Europe on Tuesday causing widespread havoc on government and business computers, starting in Russia and Ukraine before spreading to the rest of Europe and the world.
The cyberattack is reminiscent of the WannaCry attack in May that affected 150 countries and brought Britain’s NHS down.
The virus started in Russia and Ukraine, but quickly spread to Britain, France and Spain. Within hours it had hit India and the US, but Ukraine has been hit hardest with its Central Bank, local transport and Kiev’s Boryspil Airport all affected.
The malicious software locks users out of the computer and demands ransom, at $300 in bitcoins, to reinstate access.
The attack is expected to hit Australia as businesses wake up this morning.
Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on Cyber Security, Dan Tehan, said Australian authorities were "monitoring the situation".
"We have been in contact with our Five Eyes partners and the national cyber security centres in those countries to get a good sense as to what is occurring," he told the ABC.
The source of the attacks is not currently known.
Several multinational companies have been targeted including Russian oil giant Rosneft, British advertising and marketing multinational WPP, French industrial group Saint-Gobain and US pharmaceutical giant Merck.
Expert do not know the encrypting program the hackers are using which makes finding a solution difficult.
The scale and use of ransomware recalls last month’s massive attack in which hackers, linked to North Korea, disabled computers used in 150 countries by using a flaw in the systems to install ransomware called Wannacry.
Cyber security experts say the hackers have exploited the same type of hacking tool but these attacks use a different form of ransomware believed to be virus known as Petrwrap or Petya.