The Wall Street Journal | By Nick Kostov and Costas Paris | Updated June 28, 2017 5:27 p.m. ET:
Shipping giant Maersk shuts terminals; ransomware was designed to spread within corporate networks running Microsoft’s Windows.
Global firms scrambled to cope with fallout from a cyberattack that disrupted computers across Europe and the U.S.
A.P. Moeller-Maersk AMKBY 2.98% A/S, the world’s biggest container-ship operator, has shuttered many of its ports around the world. French construction giant Saint Gobain CODYY 0.46% resorted to manually operating some factory gear.
The origins of the virus were still unknown early Wednesday. Security experts described the computer disruption as a cyberattack and said the virus—dubbed Petya—appeared to stem in part from an obscure Ukrainian tax software product. A type of “ransomware,” the bug locks data, asks for ransom and spreads quickly from computer system to system—in this case across Ukraine, Russia, Europe and the U.S. There were few reports from Asia of disruptions.
The ransomware was designed to spread within corporate networks running Microsoft Corp.’s Windows operating system, but didn’t appear to be affecting consumers, security experts said. A Microsoft spokeswoman on Tuesday said that the company was investigating the outbreak.
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