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In Sweden, 800 supermarkets closed after a giant cyber attack in the US

In Sweden, 800 supermarkets closed after a giant cyber attack in the US

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Since Friday, US service company Kaseya has become a target of hackers. These attacks, where companies have to pay a ransom to regain control of their system, are increasingly affecting the general public. This is the case in Sweden, where this attack led to the closure of more than 800 supermarkets.

In hundreds of neighborhoods and villages in Sweden, where the Coop minimarket is the only place to shop, concern is growing, reports say. Our correspondent in Stockholm, Frederic Vog. Because the barn, since Saturday, is closed. This supermarket network, one of the largest in the country, is an indirect victim of The attack on the US IT service provider Kaseya : It is impossible to pass customers through out-of-service cash registers.

The problems began on Friday, July 2 and Saturday, and more than 800 mini markets and supermarkets were forced to close, and it will be the same on Sunday. The Swedish authorities take this problem very seriously, especially since for years they have opted for a cashless economy. Here, everyone pays by card or by phone, because many services are paperless.

For Defense Minister Peter Holqvist, the country is thus vulnerable. Because such an attack, which was not carried out by hackers, but by a hostile state, can quickly paralyze society and create chaos.

More than 1,000 companies potentially affected by the attack

In the United States, a cyber attack threatens more than 200 companies, but it is currently difficult to estimate the extent of this attack by ransomware, the type of computer program that paralyzes a company’s computer systems and then demands a ransom. .

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Kassiya, who realized Friday afternoon on the East Coast of the United States a potential problem with its VSA software, which is intended to manage networks of servers, computers and printers from a single source, confirmed that it is restricted ” To less than 40 clients around the world But the latter itself provides services to other companies, allowing hackers to take advantage of their attack.

According to Huntress Labs, the cybersecurity company that raised the alert level via the Reddit forum, more than a thousand companies have been hacked, but the group did not identify the companies. ” More than 1000 companies I am affected by this ransom. ” Based on the number of IT service providers who ask us for help and the feedback we see on this topic, it is reasonable to believe that this could affect thousands of small businesses. Even Huntress Labs introduced it in a post on the Reddit forum.

Hackers suspected of being in Russia

According to this company, the attack will come from Russian hackers REvil or Sodinokibi who recently targeted JBS, the Brazilian meat giant in North America. Then Moscow denied any involvement. This time around, the hackers reportedly demanded a ransom ranging from a few thousand dollars for small businesses to more than $5 million for large companies to unlock their computer systems.

Moscow, which is often suspected of covering up or even linked to hacking activities, denies any involvement. This question was one of the main points raised by US President Joe Biden during his meeting with his Russian counterpart in mid-June. Vladimir Putin.

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Joe Biden, who on Saturday ordered an investigation, claimed that ” The first thought was that it’s not about the Russian government, but we’re not sure yet ». « I will know more tomorrow »And the explained, And if it turns out that this happened while Russia learned about it and/or it was Russia’s fault, I told Putin that we would respond ‘, the US president announced.