Europe's Massive Cyberattack Hits Maersk, Could Cause Shipping Delays

By Brendan Menapace

Computers across Europe and India were hit by a major ransomware cyberattack this week, causing system failures at A.P. Moller-Maersk (Maersk), the world's largest shipping company.

The company made a statement on its Twitter page, detailing the account:

Cyber attack update 09:06 CEST pic.twitter.com/kInQZz4Wyv

— Maersk (@Maersk) June 28, 2017

A company spokeswoman told CNBC that the IT issues could impact the company's global operations, but couldn't specify exactly how the operations were affected.

Yesterday, the Port of N.Y. and N.J. announced that, due to the attack, Maersk terminals would not be open. As of 8 a.m. this morning, Maersk employees were still without email or telephone services. The port announced that import containers would be impacted.

As of 8:00 a.m. Weds 6/27 APM Terminals employees are still without email or office telephone services. No emails or voicemails can be acces

— Port of NY & NJ (@PortNYNJ) June 28, 2017

The ransomwear attack started in Ukraine, and spread internationally, impacting tens of thousands of machines across the world. The New York Times reported that it started as an attack on the Ukrainian government and business computer systems. The culprits reportedly used hacking tools stolen from the NSA and leaked online by a group called the Shadow Brokers.

We'll follow this story and alert readers to any further delays or details.