Massive cyber attack creates chaos around the world
(VOVWORLD) - A wave of cyber attacks has swept across the globe. The attack, believed to be part of an extortion plot, blocked users from data access unless they paid the hackers an amount of cryptocurrency Bitcoin.
 Working session on the attack in Tagajo, Japan (Photo: Kyodo/VNA) |
Hospitals in the UK’s National Health Service were put into emergency after patient records and X-rays became unavailable. Screenshots of these hospitals’ computers showed the notice that says: “Your data has been encrypted” with a request to pay 300 USD in Bitcoin. Hospitals had to turn off all computer systems to protect their data, or transfer patients to other hospitals that were not hit by the attack. Russian Interior Ministry, Spanish telecom giant Telefónica, and the US delivery firm FedEx were also victims. Dozens of countries have been reportedly hit, including the UK, Russia, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the US, and Mexico.