Cybersecurity

Europe's Cyber Victims Are Racking Up Hundreds of Millions in Costs

  • Saint Gobain, Reckitt Benckiser and Beiersdorf tally the bill
  • Computer viruses in May and June hampered sales, production

The Biggest Risks on the Cyber Battlefield

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Global hackers have unleashed a brace of attacks in recent months, but while their haul in bitcoin has been paltry, the revenue hit to companies infected is reaching into the hundreds of millions of dollars.

The WannaCry ransomware that spread in May featured a flawed design that led to its prompt shutdown, and June’s computer virus called Petya was designed to wipe data rather than collect money. The two attacks netted the attackers around $140,000, according to analysis of their bitcoin wallets.