Pierluigi Paganini November 26, 2020

Ritzau, the biggest Danish news agency, was hit by a ransomware attack that brought it offline but refused to pay the ransom.

Ritzau, the biggest Danish news agency, was hit by a ransomware attack that brought it offline. The cyber attack hit a quarter of Ritzau ’s 100 servers that have been damaged. The agency confirmed that it has rejected the ransom demand but did not reveal its amount.

Ritzaus Bureau A/S, or Ritzau for short, is a Danish news agency founded by Erik Ritzau in 1866. It collaborates with three other Scandinavian news agencies to provide Nordic News, an English-language Scandinavian news service.

“Ritzau CEO Lars Vesterloekke couldn’t say how big the ransom demand was because those behind the “professional attack” had left “a file with a message” that the agency didn’t open following instructions from its advisers.” reported the Associated Press.

The news agency has transferred its emergency distribution to clients to six live blogs that provide a better overview.

“If it goes as expected, then we can gradually be back to normal on Thursday,” said Ritzau CEO Lars Vesterloekke Vesterloekke.

The agency launched an investigation into the incident with the help of an external security firm and its insurance company.

At the time of writing the family of ransomware that hit the agency has yet to be revealed, it is also not clear if the threat actors have stolen some data before encrypting the servers.

Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, malware)

[adrotate banner=”5″]

[adrotate banner=”13″]