Peyta ransomware originating in Ukraine has crippled production in Australia as it spreads across the globe.

New malicious software is feared to be highly virulent creating international chaos and disrupting businesses and companies across the globe.

First reports of the cyber-attack originated from the Ukraine; their Government, banks, power and major public transport systems were all affected.

In Australia at 9:30pm on Thursday 27 June 2017, owner of Cadbury chocolate Mondelez was hit by the ransomware with employees faced with a threatening note demanding payment for the safe return of files in an attack similar to the recent WannaCry attack earlier this May.

Affected computers were locked with the same message:

Instructions were provided to send $388 (AUS) in digital currency Bitcoin to a coded address. The email address has since been shut down so victims can no longer pay the ransom.

Major companies affected

The attack halted production for a chocolate factory and affected global law firm DLA Piper’s Australian offices. From its London HQ, DLA Paper made a statement that it would be “taking steps to remedy the issue”.

According to the Guardian newspaper, the cyber-attack affected a number of other companies including:

Many of the companies affected by the cyber-attack have chosen to shut down computer systems to prevent further infection or damage of files. Companies are still struggling to get their systems back up securely and safely.

A “wake-up call”

Dan Tehan, Australian minister for cyber security, said:

“[the attack was] a wake-up call to all Australian businesses to regularly back up their data and install the latest security patches.”

Sadly, it seems like every cyber-attack is a “wake-up call” as organisations repeatedly fail to react to cyber-attacks and fail to take the right steps to protect themselves from being vulnerable.

Even if an affected company is prompted to take real action by patching up vulnerabilities and upping security measures to prevent another attack, it seems that others on the side-lines simply spectate and assume they’re safe.  Even with these two recent global cyber-attacks halting business activities around the world, not all companies are immediately “waking up” and taking action.

Companies and individuals alike fail to appreciate the pain of a cyber attack unless they get hurt themselves.

When comparing this Peyta ransomware to the WannaCry one in May, the main difference is that Peyta has “the ability to spread, even if a computer has been patched”, according to Mike Sentonas from cybersecurity company CrowdStricke Inc. The hero who halted the WannaCry ransomware in May has given his insight on the Peyta version here.

OneLogin’s data breach – Just how serious was it?

77 million user account details hacked from popular education platform Edmodo