Ukraine Banks Among The Targets Of Global Cyber Attacks

Ukrainian banks and companies, including the state power company,  were the target of a cyberattack on Tuesday (June 27) that affected operations.

According to a report in Reuters, the Ukrainian central bank said an unknown virus was the culprit behind the attack but didn’t provide more details of the banks that were affected. “As a result of these cyber attacks these banks are having difficulties with client services and carrying out banking operations,” the central bank said in a statement reported by Reuters.  “The central bank is confident that the banking infrastructure’s defense against cyber fraud is properly set up and attempted cyber attacks on banks’ IT systems will be neutralized.” Oschadbank, one of Ukraine’s biggest state-owned lenders, told Reuters that some of its services had been impacted in the “hacking attack” but said the data of customers were protected. Meanwhile, Ukrainian state power distributor Ukrenergo confirmed a cyber attack, but said the disruption had no effect on power supplies or its operations, Reuters reported.

Tuesday’s attack comes on the heels of a handful of hacking attempts on the country’s websites at the end of last year and multiple attacks on the country’s power grid that had prompted calls for Ukraine to improve its defenses from cyber attacks

Separately the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday (June 27) that businesses in Europe and the U.S. such as A.P. Moeller-Maersk, a shipping company, WPP Group, an advertising firm, and Russian oil company PAO Rosneft, said they were the victim of “significant cyberattacks.” It’s not clear if and how the attacks are related, but they do come on the heels of the WannaCry ransomware attack that started in the U.K. but spread around the globe. Russia’s state-controlled oil company, PAO Rosneft, told the Wall Street Journal that it is under a “massive hacker attack” that may result in serious consequences. It did note its oil production has not been affected. Meanwhile Maersk said its computer systems were brought down by a hacker and that it’s affcting multiple computer systems across several business units. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey also sent out alerts Tuesday that some of its terminals are “experiencing system issues” noted the WSJ.