Kaseya Ransomware Attack Impacts Up to 1,500 Companies

Between 800 and 1,500 businesses worldwide have reportedly been affected by a ransomware attack focused on the U.S. information technology firm Kaseya, according to the firm’s CEO.

Reuters reports that between 800 and 1,500 businesses worldwide have been affected by a recent ransomware attack that focused on the U.S. tech firm Kaseya, according to the company’s CEO Fred Voccola.

Voccola stated in an interview that it isn’t easy to estimate the impact of the recent cyberattack as those affected were primarily customers of Kaseya’s customers. Kaseya provides software tools to IT outsourcing shops, companies that generally handle back-office work for companies that are too small to have their own tech departments.

One of Kaseya’s tools was subverted last week allowing hackers to shut down hundreds of businesses worldwide. Most of these businesses were small or mid-sized — including dentist practices and accountanting firms — but in Sweden, hundreds of supermarkets were forced to close as their cash registers became inoperative. In New Zealand, many schools and kindergartens were taken offline.

The attack was reportedly perpetrated by an affiliate of the notorious REvil hacking group which is best known for extorting $11 million from the meat-processor JBS.

The REvil affiliate reportedly infected thousands of victims in at least 17 countries on Friday, primarily through firms that remotely manage IT infrastructure for multiple customers, cybersecurity researchers said. REvil was demanding ransoms of up to $5 million according to researchers.

But late on Sunday, the group posted to its dark website a universal decryptor software key that would unscramble all affected machines in exchange for $70 million in cryptocurrency. The FBI said in a statement that while it was investigating the attack its scale “may make it so that we are unable to respond to each victim individually.”

A representative of the hackers responsible told Reuters: “We are always ready to negotiate.” Voccola refused to say whether he was ready to negotiate with the hackers, saying: “I can’t comment ‘yes,’ ‘no,’ or ‘maybe’. No comment on anything to do with negotiating with terrorists in any way.”

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