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Renault Hit in Ransomware Attack That Affected Thousands of Computers

Renault is the first major French company that is affected by the ransomware attack that struck possibly hundreds of thousands of computers across the world this week.
Renault logo on the front grille of Zoe EV 1 photo
Photo: Renault
The attack was carried out through spam e-mails, and it is considered the biggest ever of its kind that was encountered on a global scale.

The term refers to a hacker that encodes the data of a computer and then requests money in exchange for the password that would remove the encryption.

According to specialists in the field, the malware that was used in this attack exploited a vulnerability in the Windows operating system, and it then spreads across networks at an alarming rate.

Researchers believe that the same weakness of the Windows operating system was previously identified by the National Security Agency in the USA, and was then leaked on-line by a group that calls itself “the Shadow Brokers.”

Representatives of Microsoft stated that the company’s engineers have added protection measures against the vulnerability, but it is evident that these only work if the computer has the latest software updates activated.

Maybe the incident will inspire many to purchase a dependable anti-virus solution and be more careful on what e-mails they open and what links they click.

The hackers requested their victims to pay the Bitcoin equivalent of $300 since the computers were infected, and it happened under the threat of a higher sum being solicited at a later date. If the user did not pay, he or she would lose all of the files on the hard-drive within a specified interval.

Other victims of ransomware attacks have complained that their data was deleted even after they paid the ransom, but it is not clear at this time if anyone paid to get their documents back. Several Spanish banks were affected, along with 16 hospitals in the UK, and numerous users in Taiwan.

Ransomware attacks are not uncommon, but the latest one hit computers across the world, and Renault is a company that confirmed it was affected, France24 notes. We do not know at this moment if hackers have successfully hit other car makers.

Dacia, a subsidiary of the French company, had to stop production yesterday after some of its computers were infected with the malware, Romanian media reports. The affordable brand stopped production to prevent the virus from spreading on its network, officials explained.

Russia was the country that was hit the hardest by the attack, but Ukraine, Taiwan, and 70 other nations were affected. Other victims include FedEx, Germany’s national railway company, Spanish telecom giant Telefonica, and more.
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About the author: Sebastian Toma
Sebastian Toma profile photo

Sebastian's love for cars began at a young age. Little did he know that a career would emerge from this passion (and that it would not, sadly, involve being a professional racecar driver). In over fourteen years, he got behind the wheel of several hundred vehicles and in the offices of the most important car publications in his homeland.
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