According to ransomware removal experts, the aftereffects of NotPetya Ransomware have not disappeared yet. It has been a year since NotPetya Ransomware attacked a wide range of countries ranging from Europe to USA and Ukraine to Australia, hitting up several major brands in the process.
The total damages of this ransomware were reported to be exceeding $1 billion. Newer costs are still being calculated. NotPetya Ransomware attack started out in June 2017 as part of a major ransomware campaign which originated from Russia and caused mayhem.
Losses to Big Names
One of the biggest casualties of the attack is the popular shipping brand FedEx and pharma company Merck. Both of these brands had to endure losses worth millions of dollars. These losses account for loss of sales data, operating failures and IT costs required to recover data and remove ransomware.
According to sources, FedEx’s recovery efforts caused it to incur costs of $400 million. Merck on the other hand, lost $670 million due to the loss of its sales data, manufacturing problems and recovery costs. The company was unable to deliver its orders related to Gardasil 9 vaccine due to the ransomware attack compromising its systems. Gardasil 9 is used for the treatment and prevention of dangerous diseases like cancer and others. Thus, the impact of attack affected several patients too.
There were other countries too which were restricted in their operations and sales and had to incur huge losses. These companies were unable to use their basic operating functionalities like email and processing and generation of invoices. Famous companies like advertising brand WPP PLC, snack business Mondelez International, law firm DLA Piper LLP and other known brands were amongst the victims of NotPetya ransomware attack.
Many brands are not able to generate profits that they used to generate before pre-NotPetya days. However, according to ransomware removal experts, NotPetya has served as a wakeup call for many businesses. Owners and executives of these organizations have realized the importance of a strong cyber defense strategy.
Organizations are now spending more to strengthen the security of their computer systems in order to avoid a similar fate.
