The chemical company Bayer has blocked a Cyber-attack. Even if this Time were written no data, revealed the incident to be a global Problem, whose tracks range probably up to China.
The pharmaceutical and agro – chemical company Bayer is like a cyber attack. There is, however, no indication that data has been depleted, the company said. The attack back to the sun, therefore, already for about a year. Currently, the Cologne public Prosecutor to investigate. The amount of the damage could not be anticipated.
According to Bayer, there had been since the beginning of 2018, the indications are that the company’s network from a hacker group handles used by the Winnti malware. Had been particularly affected interfaces from the Intranet to the Internet, as well as authorization systems. Experts from the Cyber Defense center of Bayer would have identified the affected systems and analyzed. It had been a close cooperation with the German Cyber-security organization (DCSO) and the criminal police office in North Rhine-Westphalia.
First of all, we have adjusted the infected systems, “the potential communication of the attacker to analyze,” said Bayer. At the end of March had been but adjusted the systems. Apparently, the Cyber attackers have not become actively.
Track to China
Experts suspect that the hacking group Winnti is acting on behalf of the Chinese state and industrial espionage. Evidence was not there, however. Many attackers would lay false trails. There is but circumstantial evidence, such as the way of the attack, said the Karlsruhe-based virus expert Christoph Fischer.
Sure, you could be, but at least that it was a targeted attack. “If a company finds that it has the Winnti malicious software on one or more computers, then it is clear that it is a targeted attack,” said Andrew pipe, Director of technology at the DCSO.
Europe-Wide Problem
Not only Bayer, has become the target of a Cyber attack. According to media reports, the Winnti malware found, at least three companies from the German Mittelstand, which are to be in the area of chemistry, machinery and plant construction sector. Virus expert fishermen in the Cyber-attacks a larger Problem. “It is a surface fire, the whole of Europe is affected.” And he warns: The security concepts of the companies were part of five to ten years old.
The hacking group Winnti is also supposed to be behind the Cyber-attack on Thyssenkrupp in the year 2016. The company had fought in a six-month defensive battle against the malicious software.
lh/sti (dpa, reuters)