Rotterdam harbor affected by ransomware attacks

Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-27 23:52:20|Editor: Mu Xuequan
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THE HAGUE, June 27 (Xinhua) -- Several companies in the Netherlands, also in the harbor of Rotterdam, are affected by the hostage virus that strikes around the world, Dutch national broadcaster NOS reported on Tuesday.

According to computer security company Fox-IT from the Dutch city of Delft, at least two customers of Fox-IT are affected.

Earlier in the day, APM container terminals from Rotterdam already stated that it was affected by the ransomware attack. APM's parent company, Maersk, also stated to be affected by a malfunction.

The company is said to be completely out of order. Also, the location of APM in Morocco, a major transit port between Africa and the rest of the world, is said to be out of service.

"There is panic at companies," says Ronald Prins, director of Fox-IT to the NOS. "They notice that one computer has been hit and then they turn off their entire network."

As a result, Fox-IT can no longer remotely observe the affected customers. "We have to visit companies physically for inspections."

With a ransomware attack or a hostage virus attack, hackers "take hostage of files", and they will only decrypt the files if the target pays money.

At the National Cyber Security Center of the Dutch Government, no other "infections" in the Netherlands are known.

In Ukraine, the government's network is out of order, as well as networks of banks and energy companies. The airport of Kiev has also been hit by a "digital attack", which possibly leads to flights being delayed.

The Russian state-owned oil company Rosneft says it also is a target, but the digital attack is said to not affect production. The Britain-based advertising agency WPP is also said to be affected. Companies in France, India and Spain also report attacks with ransomware.

Both in Ukraine and at the container company APM in Rotterdam, the same ransomware texts have appeared on the computer screens, asking for ransom in the form of bitcoins. It is still unclear whether there actually is a connection between the attacks.

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