The Italian cyber security authority ACN warns of a current ransomware attack affecting thousands of servers worldwide.
Thousands of servers around the world have been the target of a ransomware cyber attack. The Italian cyber security agency ACN reported this on Sunday this week and warned that organizations should take measures to protect their systems. What exactly these protective measures should look, however, remains unmentioned.
ACN Director General Roberto Baldoni told Reuters that the attackers appeared to be exploiting a software vulnerability to carry out the attacks on a massive scale. The Italian news agency ANSA quotes ACN that servers in other European countries such as Finland and France or in the United States and Canada have been compromised.
The warning does not mention which security gaps are specifically addressed. However, the French CERT warned on Friday evening of active attacks on an old VMware ESXi vulnerability, which is listed under CVE-2021-21974 and classified as high risk with a CVSS value of 8.8. However, it is currently unclear whether there is a connection.
Cyber attack: Italian facilities in particular affected
Dozens of Italian organizations are likely to be affected and many more have been warned to take action to avoid being locked out of their systems. Telecom Italia reported connectivity issues on Sunday, which it attributes to problems with international connections. According to the ANSA news agency, however, it was not due to hackers.
The US cyber security agency CISA is still evaluating the scope and impact of the incidents. The agency told Reuters, “CISA is working with its public and private sector partners to assess the impact of these reported incidents and provide assistance as needed.”
Cyber attacks are increasing. There were recent attacks on Adesso or data theft at Bitmarck, where cyber intruders stole data. Ransomware attacks regularly lead to paralyzed IT, as was the case recently at the TU Freiberg, and can finally drive companies into bankruptcy, such as the bicycle manufacturer Prophete.
TechAint 