CBC NEWS: Canada relatively unscathed as cyberattack continues to spread

Daniel Tobok
E: [email protected]
Posted on: June 28, 2018

To-date, it has disrupted operations in 75 global companies–and counting. Estimates of the damage to operations are in the ballpark of $8 billion.

As a cyberattack continued to spread among nations and corporations on Wednesday, the identity and motives of the attackers remain a mystery.

Ports, hospitals and banks around the globe have been hit by a version of ransomware being called ExPetr, similar to Petya but with a different functionality. The list of corporate and sovereign victims continues to expand across the world.

India’s largest shipping port in Mumbai has been hit, cybersecurity expert Ritesh Bhatia said Wednesday. “One terminal has been affected very badly and the entire operations are shut down.”

“One of the reasons for that is because we have less legacy systems in most of the corporations in Canada today,” cybersecurity expert Daniel Tobok of Cypfer told CBC News in an interview.

If hit by a ransom demand, victims are faced with two unpleasant options: pay up, or else.

“And we always recommend not to pay because once you pay you get on what we call the sucker list,” Tobok said. “They will know that you are one of those entities that will pay — it’s almost like negotiating with terrorists.”

READ FULL ARTICLE