Status: 04.07.2021 2:27 p.m.
The investigations into the latest cyber attack in the USA are ongoing: the extortion software has emerged from customers of the US IT service provider Kaseya in at least 17 countries. US President Biden warned Russia.
After a massive hacker attack on companies around the world, the exact extent can still not be estimated. Experts assume that it could have been one of the most extensive so-called ransomware attacks ever.
Affected customers in at least 17 countries
Blackmail software appeared among customers of the software service provider Kaseya in at least 17 countries, according to the cybersecurity company ESET. The victims were asked to pay ransom so that their locked computers could be released.
The hackers used Kaseya’s services to spread the ransomware. The company’s customers, who in turn offer IT services themselves, may have carried the ransomware on. “It is realistic that this could potentially affect thousands of small businesses,” said John Hammond of cybersecurity firm Huntress Labs.
Expert Dmitri Alperovitch from the think tank Silverado Policy Accelerator estimated the number of companies affected to be even higher. It would probably be tens of thousands in the end, he said.
800 supermarkets closed in Sweden
In Sweden, most of the approximately 800 supermarkets in the Coop chain could not open on Saturday because the registers did not work, as the broadcaster SVT reported. The Swedish State Railways and a large chain of pharmacies were also affected.
Biden warns Russia
US President Joe Biden does not want to rule out Russian participation. He said that if the Russian state had anything to do with it, the US would react accordingly. “We’re not sure,” said Biden. “The preliminary assessment is that it wasn’t the Russian government.”
The USA has been targeted by cyberattacks several times this year, for example on an important pipeline and a meat company.
Cooperation agreed
The hacker attacks were most recently the subject of the meeting between President Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva. Putin denied that the Russian government had anything to do with the attacks, claiming that most of them originated in the US. The two presidents agreed to work together to improve cybersecurity.
With information from Katrin Brand, ARD-Studio Washington
Cyber attack: Biden does not rule out Russian involvement
Katrin Brand, ARD Washington, July 4th, 2021 2:39 p.m.