{"id":19242,"date":"2021-07-02T22:29:02","date_gmt":"2021-07-03T02:29:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/?p=19242"},"modified":"2021-07-02T22:29:02","modified_gmt":"2021-07-03T02:29:02","slug":"us-companies-hit-by-colossal-cyber-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2021\/07\/02\/us-companies-hit-by-colossal-cyber-attack\/","title":{"rendered":"US companies hit by ‘colossal’ cyber-attack"},"content":{"rendered":"
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About 200 US businesses have been hit by a “colossal” ransomware attack, according to a cyber-security firm.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Huntress Labs said the hack targeted Florida-based IT company Kaseya\u00a0before spreading through corporate networks that use its software.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Kaseya said in a statement on its own website that it was investigating a “potential attack”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Huntress Labs said it believed the Russia-linked REvil ransomware gang was responsible.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency, a federal agency,\u00a0said in a statement<\/a>\u00a0that it was taking action to address the attack.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The cyber-breach emerged on Friday afternoon as companies across the US were clocking off for the long Independence Day weekend.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Kaseya said one of its applications that runs corporate servers, desktop computers and network devices might have been compromised.<\/div>\n
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The company said it was urging customers that use its VSA tool to immediately shut down their servers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Kaseya said in its statement<\/a>\u00a0that a “small number” of companies had been affected, though Huntress Labs said the number is already about 200 and counting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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It is not clear what specific companies have been affected – a Kaseya representative contacted by the BBC declined to give details.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Kaseya’s website says it has a presence in over 10 countries and more than 10,000 customers.<\/p>\n

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“This is a colossal and devastating supply chain attack,” Huntress Labs’ senior security researcher John Hammond said in an email to Reuters news agency.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

At a summit in Geneva last month, US President Joe Biden said he told Russian President Vladimir Putin he had a responsibility to rein in such cyber-attacks.<\/div>\n
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Mr Biden said he gave Mr Putin a list of 16 critical infrastructure sectors, from energy to water, that should not be subject of hacking.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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REvil – also known as Sodinokibi – is one of the most prolific and profitable cyber-criminal groups in the world.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The gang was blamed by the FBI for a hack in May that paralysed operations at JBS – the world’s largest meat supplier.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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