In Sweden, a grocery chain temporarily closed its doors after the attack. Some companies have been asked for $5 million in ransom.
Hundreds of businesses around the world, including one of Sweden’s largest grocery chains, grappled on Saturday with potential cybersecurity vulnerabilities after a software provider that provides services to more than 40,000 organizations, Kaseya, said it had been the victim of a “sophisticated cyberattack.” Security researchers said the attack may have been carried out by REvil, a Russian cybercriminal group that the F.B.I. has said was behind the hacking of the world’s largest meat processor, JBS, in May. In Sweden, the grocery retailer Coop was forced to close at least 800 stores on Saturday, according to Sebastian Elfors, a cybersecurity researcher for the security company Yubico. Outside Coop stores, signs turned customers away: “We have been hit by a large IT disturbance and our systems do not work.” Mr. Elfors said a Swedish railway and a major pharmacy chain had also been affected by the Kaseya attack. “It’s totally devastating,” he said.
