More than a thousand companies were caught in a cyber attack that led to the closure of supermarkets

The computer software of the American company Kaseya, which has been under a cyber attack since Friday, “was used to encrypt more than a thousand companies,” reveals the company specializing in cybersecurity Huntress Labs. One of Sweden’s leading supermarket chains has temporarily closed nearly all of its 800 stores due to this problem with the software that manages cash registers.

Kassiya, who classified the attack as “complex”, asserted, for its part, that it was limited to “a very small number of clients”, but in turn it provides services to other companies that the hackers were able to manage. ransom request.

Eric Goldstein, the organization’s chief of cybersecurity, said the US Cyber ​​and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is “following the situation closely.”

“We are working with Cassie and coordinating with the FBI (US Federal Police) to raise awareness among potentially affected victims.”Goldstein was quoted by Agence France-Presse.

On Friday, early afternoon on the East Coast of the United States, the Kaseya learns of a possible accident in her VSA program, even before Monday’s long holiday weekend, estimated that “fewer than 40 customers worldwide” would be affected.

Known as “ransomware,” it is a type of computer software that hackers use to exploit vulnerabilities of a company or other entity to encrypt and lock their systems, then demand a ransom to unlock it.

This attack already had direct consequences: one major supermarket chain in Sweden today was forced to temporarily close all of its 800 stores, as the cyber attack paralyzed cash registers.

“Ransomware” attacks are becoming commonplace, but usually “cybercriminals are running the business,” explained Jerome Belloa, a cybersecurity expert at consultancy Wavestone.

“In this case, they attacked a company that provides computer systems management software, which allowed them to simultaneously target dozens or even hundreds of other companies., he completed.

“It’s hard to say exactly how many, because in this kind of situation, affected companies lose their media,” Biloa commented.

The expert added that the “Kasiya” company, which asked its customers to shut down all their systems, could not know whether those systems were stopped “voluntarily or forcibly.”

Based in Miami Kaseya sells software to small and medium-sized businesses, including VSA software designed to manage their server networks, computers, and printers from a single source.It claims to have more than 40,000 customers.

According to Huntress Labs, according to the methods used, “ransomware” notes, and the Internet address provided by the hackers, the author must be a member of the “hackers” group known by the names Revil or Sodinokibi.