Ransomware Attack Spreads to Romania

All these companies became infected by Petya during a massive attack that unfolded this Tuesday, the second one of its kind in the last two months.

The malware is demanding USA $300 in bitcoin to regain access. Cybersecurity researchers ask why, if the goal of the attack was to force victims to pay ransom, more care was not taken to protect the email address through which attackers could communicate with their victims, or to provide multiple avenues for payment. That is $3.5K Dollars worth in digital currency. Symantec states that it has been confirmed that it is exploiting the EternalBlue vulnerability, allegedly developed by the National Security Agency (NSA) along with EternalRomance exploit.

Most ransomware programs create a unique wallet for each infection, making it easy to know which victim is responsible for each payment. Instead, get an external hard drive, or purchase space on cloud services and back up your computer on a frequent basis. After which, it forces your computer to shutdown.

Experts said that the most recent attack was less severe than a similar hacking in May, when software called WannaCry introduced the term “ransomware” to much of the world.

The Petya ransomware rapidly spread from Ukraine to other companies in Europe via enterprise networks.

In a Twitter update early Wednesday morning, the firm stated it had taken steps to “contain” the attack, but was still working to “return to normal operations”.

Even though Microsoft released patches for the outbreak, computers can still be infected.

Companies that were affected by Petya are likely to have underestimated the threat level after surviving WannaCry.

Computers at the global law firm DLA Piper, which has offices around the world, were also reportedly affected by the attack.

While recent reports suggest that the ransomware outbreak is under control in Ukraine, and the attacks taking on worldwide operations-from Danish shipping firm Maersk to United States pharmaceutical firm Merck-are trailing off, the latest outbreak may be almost done.

According to CNET’s report, security experts advise against paying fees to the ransomware.

The rapidly spreading cyber extortion campaign, which began on Tuesday, underscored growing concerns that businesses have failed to secure their networks from increasingly aggressive hackers, who have shown they are capable of shutting down critical infrastructure and crippling corporate and government networks.