Cyberattack | Ransomware hits new targets in Asia

A new cyberattack similar to WannaCry reached parts of Asia after hitting businesses, port operators and government systems in Europe, U.S. and South America.

A terminal operated by A.P. Moller-Maersk at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, a facility near Mumbai which is India’s biggest container port, was unable to load or unload because of the attack. With the Gateway Terminal India facility unable to identify which shipment belongs to whom, the port is clearing cargo manually, Chairman Anil Diggikar said in a phone interview.

After wreaking havoc in Europe, the attackers behind the Petya virus have had a limited impact in Asia so far as they demand users pay USD300 in cryptocurrency per infected computer to unlock their systems. About 2,000 users had been attacked as of yesterday [Macau time] in North America, according to Kaspersky Lab analysts, with organizations in Russia and Ukraine the most affected.

“With there being no global kill switch for this one, we’ll continue to see the numbers rise in different parts of the world as more vulnerable systems become more exposed,” said Beau Woods, deputy director of the Cyber Statecraft Initiative at the Atlantic Council in Washington.

There are signs the virus is starting to spread in China but no large-scale outbreak has been detected, according to Zheng Wenbin, chief security engineer at Qihoo 360 Technology Co.

After the WannaCry outbreak earlier this year, ransomware is becoming a routine risk for businesses around the world. While banks and retailers have strengthened defenses against certain types of attacks, such as those targeting credit card data, many others are still catching up in building their defenses.

The attack popped up in government systems in Kiev, then disabled operations at companies including Rosneft PJSC, advertiser WPP Plc and the Chernobyl nuclear facility. More than 80 companies in Russia and Ukraine were initially affected, Moscow-based cybersecurity company Group-IB said. The hack quickly spread from Russia and Ukraine, through Europe and into the U.S. (More on p15) Bloomberg