New major cyberattack hits international firms

A major cyberattack has unfolded, striking banks, corporations and infrastructure in Ukraine and Russia before spreading to western Europe and then the United States.

Experts say the virus is a modified version of the so-called Petya ransomware, which hit last year and demanded money from victims in exchange for their data.

A similar virus called WannaCry infected more than 200,000 computers in more than 150 countries last month.

Following is a list of companies and organisations which say they have been a victim of the latest attack:

Ukraine’s central bank, the National Bank of Ukraine

Ukrainian bank Oschadbank

Ukrainian delivery service company Nova Poshta

Russian state oil giant Rosneft

Kyivenergo, Kiev power company

Radiation monitoring system at Chernobyl

Website of Kiev’s Boryspil international airport

Danish sea transport company Maersk

British advertising giant WPP

French industrial group Saint-Gobain

US pharmaceutical giant Merck

AFP
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