Cyberattack affects businesses worldwide

An outbreak of ransomware has infected companies and governments around the world, particularly in Europe. Officials in Ukraine said the malicious software had affected some of the country’s power grids, banks, and government offices. The program encrypts users’ data and holds it hostage until a payment is made. Russia’s Rosneft oil company, Danish shipping giant A.P. Moller-Maersk, and U.S. drug maker Merck all said the attack had compromised their systems. Networks are still recovering from another ransomware attack in May that spread using digital break-in tools originally created by the U.S. National Security Agency and recently leaked to the web.

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