“A major ransomware attack has brought businesses to a close throughout Europe, in an infection reminiscent of last month’s WannaCry attack. The most severe damage is being reported by Ukrainian businesses, with systems compromised at Ukraine’s central bank, state telecom, municipal metro, and Kiev’s Boryspil Airport. Systems were also compromised at Ukraine’s Ukrenego electricity supplier, although a spokesperson said the power supply was unaffected by the attack.
The attack has even affected operations at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which has switched to manual radiation monitoring as a result of the attack. Infections have also been reported in more isolated devices like point-of-sale terminals and ATMs.
The virus has also spread internationally. The Danish shipping company Maersk has also reported systems down across multiple sites, including the company’s Russian logistics arm Damco. The virus also reached servers for the Russian oil company Rosneft, although it’s unclear how much damage was incurred. There have also been several recorded cases in the United States, including the pharmaceutical company Merck, a Pittsburgh-area hospital, and the US offices of law firm DLA Piper.
Early reports from a Kaspersky researcher identified the virus as a variant of the Petya ransomware, although the company later clarified that the virus is an entirely new strain of ransomware, which it dubbed “NotPetya.” Kaspersky telemetry indicated that at least 2,000 users had been attacked by the virus as of this afternoon.”