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New 'GoldenEye' Virus Going Global at Lightning Speed; US on Edge

CBN

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A new and highly virulent outbreak of malicious data-scrambling software called GoldenEye appears to be causing mass disruption across Europe, hitting Ukraine especially hard.
  
Company and government officials reported serious intrusions at the Ukrainian power grid, banks and government offices, where one senior official posted a photo of a darkened computer screen and the words, "the whole network is down." 

Ukraine's prime minister said the attack was unprecedented but that "vital systems haven't been affected."
  
Russia's Rosneft oil company also reported falling victim to hacking, as did Danish shipping giant A.P. Moller-Maersk.
  
"We are talking about a cyberattack," said Anders Rosendahl, a spokesman for the Copenhagen-based group told The Associated Press. "It has affected all branches of our business, at home and abroad."
  
The number of companies and agencies reportedly affected by the ransomware campaign was piling up fast, and the electronic rampage appeared to be rapidly snowballing into a real-world crisis. 

Dutch daily Algemeen Dagblaad says container ship terminals in Rotterdam run by a unit of Maersk were also affected. Rosneft said that the company narrowly avoided major damage.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security told CBN News, one of the largest drug makers in the U.S., Merck, reported being infected by the malware, along with about 20 other companies..

Heritage Valley Health Systems, a health care network that runs two hospitals in Western Pennsylvania, also confirmed in a statement to a local newspaper on Tuesday that it was a victim of the same ransomware attack that has spread around the globe.

At least one surgery had to be postponed because of the hack, according to a woman interviewed by a local television news station.

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