Largest Danish news agency is offline after ransomware infection

The Danish news agency Ritzau has been hit by unknown ransomware. The organization has been offline since Tuesday, but does not pay the ransom. The news agency says it is in the process of repairing its computers.

It is a ‘serious attack’, says the news agency in a message on the homepage. It is not known what ransomware is involved or how the company’s networks have been infected. The editorial systems no longer work, so that the news agency can no longer publish news in the normal way. Ritzau is big in Denmark; it is the largest news agency and provides news to numerous media in the country. Millions of Danes follow the news through the agency every day. Ritzau says it has now set up live blogs that provide the media with news. Affiliated media can access it through customer service.

It is not known what exactly happened during the attack. According to Bleeping Computer, about a quarter of the company’s 100 servers are encrypted. The company says it will not pay the ransom. The ransom note would not even have been opened “on the advice of our advisers.” As a result, it is also not known how high the requested amount is.

Ritzau says it is trying to clean all infected computers and servers and bring them back online. It is not clear whether this is the removal of the ransomware or clean installations and which information is then retained or lost. Ritzau would get help from his insurance company and assisted by experts to prevent an attack in the future.