Maersk says ransomware cyber-attack 'contained'

The Danish shipping giant confirmed it had been part of a global ransomware attack Petya on 27 June and that IT systems were down across multiple sites and select business units. The attack would appear to have particularly impacted its container line and container terminals with both divisions websites down and reports of disruption at APM Terminals facilities in Asia, Europe and the US.

“Maersk Line vessels are maneuverable, able to communicate and crews are safe. APM Terminals is impacted in a number of ports,” the company said.

Maersk Group said that the issue had now been contained and it was working key IT-partners and global cyber security agencies on a technical recovery plan.

“We have shut down a number of systems to help contain the issue. At this point our entities Maersk Oil, Maersk Drilling, Maersk Supply Services, Maersk Tankers, Maersk Training, Svitzer and MCI are not operationally affected. Precautionary measures have been taken to ensure continued operations,” it said.

According to SingCERT (Singapore Computer Emergency Response Team the Petya virus is more dangerous and intrusive than the Wannacry ransomware attack that hit companies globally last month.

“Its behaviour is to encrypt the Master File Tree (MFT) tables for NTFS partitions and overrides the Master Boot Record (MBR) with a custom bootloader to display a ransom note and prevents victims from booting up,” SingCert said. “Petya spread via email spam with booby-trapped Office documents.The documents, once opened, will download and run the Petya installer and execute the SMB worm to spread to other computers.”

The following Microsoft operating systems are vulnerable: Windows 10, Windows RT 8.1, Windows 8.1, Windows 7, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2, and Windows Server 2003.

Operating the world's largest container line Maersk has been at the forefront of digitalisation in the sector.

“We continue to assess and manage the situation to minimise the impact on our operations, customers and partners from the current situation. Business continuity plans are being implemented and prioritised. The aggregate impact on our business is being assessed,” Maersk said.

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