FBI warns of large 'scale' in US ransomware attack

NEW YORK - The FBI said Sunday the "scale" of a major ransomware attack against a US IT company could mean investigators won't be able to work with every victim individually. 

Hackers hit Kaseya, a firm that provides IT services to other companies, with a ransomware attack that could have targeted as many as 1,000 other businesses on Friday, just before the long holiday July 4 weekend in the United States. 

The FBI said it had opened an investigation along with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and other US federal agencies "to understand the scope of the threat."

"If you believe your systems have been compromised, we encourage you to employ all recommended mitigations, follow Kaseya's guidance to shut down your VSA servers immediately and report to the FBI," the bureau said in a statement Sunday, referencing the signature networking software that was attacked. 

"Although the scale of this incident may make it so that we are unable to respond to each victim individually, all information we receive will be useful in countering this threat," the FBI statement said.

President Joe Biden said Saturday that he had ordered an investigation, in particular to find out whether the assault had come from Russia. 

"We're not sure yet," he said Saturday.

Russian-based hackers have been blamed for a string of ransomware attacks, and Biden recently raised the threat in talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

Ransomware attacks typically involve locking away data in systems using encryption, making companies pay to regain access.

Kaseya describes itself as a leading provider of IT and security management services to small and medium-sized businesses. VSA is designed to let companies manage networks of computers and printers from a single point.

The company said in a new statement Sunday that they were working "around the clock in all geographies" to get their systems working again.

They said they hoped to get a restricted version of their platform running again within days. 

The disruption forced Swedish supermarket chain Coop Sweden to close on Saturday because their cash register system had been taken down in the attack.

Multiple US companies, including the computer group SolarWinds and the Colonial oil pipeline, have also recently been targeted by ransomware attacks.

Agence France-Presse

Huawei is not controlled by China, executive says

LONDON - Huawei is a private company that is not controlled by the Chinese government and would refuse to hand over information to Beijing although no such request has been made, the firm's Vice President of Western Europe said on Tuesday.

The United States has told allies not to use Huawei's technology to build new 5G telecommunications networks because of concerns it could be a vehicle for Chinese spying, an accusation the firm has denied.

"There is no obligation on Huwaei's part to cooperate with the government in the way in which the Americans are indicating," Tim Watkins told BBC radio.

"There is no mandate in (China's national intelligence) law that we have to had over customer data or intelligence that we do not wish to hand over or we think should be sensitive."

Watkins added that the code used in their products was safe and secure.

source: news.abs-cbn.com