World licks cyber wounds from ransomware attack

A global cyber attack described as unprecedented in scale forced European automaker Renault to halt some production lines while hitting schools in China and hospitals in Britain and Indonesia, though it appeared to die down a day after its launch. The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority said no cases of ransom attacks have been reported in the UAE.
Capitalising on spying tools believed to have been developed by the US National Security Agency, the cyber assault has infected tens of thousands of computers in nearly 100 countries, with Britain's health system suffering the worst disruptions.
The extortion attack, which locked up computers and held users' files for ransom, is believed to be the biggest of its kind ever recorded, disrupting services in nations as diverse as the US, Russia, Ukraine, Spain and India. Europol, the European Union's police agency, said the onslaught was at "an unprecedented level and will require a complex international investigation to identify the culprits".
Some experts said the threat had receded for now, in part because a British-based researcher, who declined to give his name, registered a domain that he noticed the malware was trying to connect to, and so limited the worm's spread.
Researchers with security software maker Avast said they had observed 126,534 ransomware infections in 99 countries, with Russia, Ukraine and Taiwan the top targets.
Renault said it had halted auto production at several sites, including Sandouville in northwestern France and Renault-owned Dacia plants in Romania on Saturday, to prevent the spread of ransomware in its systems.
Nissan's manufacturing plant in Sunderland, northeast England, was also affected by the cyber assault though "there has been no major impact on our business", a spokesman for the Japanese carmaker said.
German rail operator Deutsche Bahn said some electronic signs at stations announcing arrivals and departures were infected, with travellers posting pictures showing some bearing a message demanding a cash payment to restore access.
In Asia, some hospitals, schools, universities and other institutions were affected, though the full extent of the damage is not yet known because it is the weekend.