On August 7, ransomware took hostage the computer system of the Union of Agricultural Producers (UPA), which has since been frozen.
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The perpetrators of the cyberattack are still unknown, but might be in Ukraine or neighboring post-Soviet states, according to UPA Director General Charles-Felix Ross.
“This is the first time that we have been the victim of such a major attack,” he said on QUB radio on Tuesday. Does the intention of [pirates informatiques] is only pecuniary or are they interested in certain data?”
Ransomware is software that targets an organization’s security vulnerabilities to steal their data, then demands that they pay a ransom if they want it back.
“It really is extortion. […] They enter our systems, they block them, and to unblock them, they demand a ransom from you. We are in the process of taking stock of the situation with experts and we will act in the coming days, ”said Mr. Ross.
The cyberattack froze, among other things, the payroll service, files shared on the internal network, the intranet and several other applications necessary for the proper functioning of the UPA, can we read in a press release.
“Everything runs on computers these days, even our houses, our fridges and the heating. So on the scale of an organization or a business, it’s really tough. It comes downright block our operations, “lamented the director of the UPA.
“Some things will come back quickly, but it will be restored according to priorities. But we will get through this,” he added in the statement.
