Britain publicly blames Vladimir Putin's government for cyber attack that hit Europe
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Loading... - Francesca Galloway
- 15 Feb 2021
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Britain has publicly blamed Vladimir Putin’s government for a cyber attack which spread across Europe last year.
The malware attack, named ‘NotPetya’ was aimed financial, energy and government targets in Ukraine.
But the infection was designed to spread further.
It affected European and Russian firms in June last year, posing as a 'ransomware' attack, taking out businesses as diverse as shipping ports, supermarkets and law firms.
Although it masqueraded as 'ransomware' - demanding around $300 in bitcoin to unscramble the victim's data - there was no infrastructure in place to actually accept the payments.
Foreign Minister for Cyber Security Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon said the UK’s decision to identify the Kremlin as responsible for the attack, underlines the fact the Government will not tolerate “malicious cyber activity.”
He said: "The UK Government judges that the Russian government, specifically the Russian military, was responsible for the destructive NotPetya cyber attack of June 2017.
"The attack showed a continued disregard for Ukrainian sovereignty. Its reckless release disrupted organisations across Europe costing hundreds of millions of pounds.
"The Kremlin has positioned Russia in direct opposition to the West yet it doesn't have to be that way.
"We call upon Russia to be the responsible member of the international community it claims to be rather then secretly trying to undermine it.
"The United Kingdom is identifying, pursuing and responding to malicious cyber activity regardless of where it originates, imposing costs on those who would seek to do us harm.
"We are committed to strengthening co-ordinated international efforts to uphold a free, open, peaceful and secure cyberspace."
