Maersk in the Philippines Hit by Virus

Danish shipping and container giant A.P. Møller-Mærsk has been hit by two malicious computer viruses in quick succession, ComputerWorld writes. Despite round the clock efforts to solve the problems, the IT magazine says, the infections spread over the weekend and earlier this week were preventing at least 300 employees from being able to work.


During the last 24 hours the virus has spread to Maersk in The Philippines and India as well.


The company was not only hit by the Sality virus, which spreads by infecting exe and scr files, but also a new variant of the Stuxnet virus which targets systems running SCADA software. On Friday a Maersk spokesman claimed that the attacks were under control.
However, according to ComputerWorld, the problems intensified over the weekend, and led to at least 300 computers being rendered non-operational. The rapidly spreading viruses can not only disable antivirus software, but also block access to antivirus websites.


According to the company, the attacks have been a “source of frustration” but have had little impact on business. “We have been able to run the business with very little disruption to our customers,” said Hanne Sorensen, Maersk Line’s Chief Commercial Officer.


Staffs have been asked to avoid using USB sticks in an effort to prevent further infections.


 


 


 

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