Cyber attack Petya hit Ukraine and Russia first

A massive cyber attack wrought havoc on energy, transport and government computer systems in Ukraine and Russia on June 27, and appeared to be spreading rapidly beyond these countries, with reports of disruptions also in Denmark, Romania, Spain and the UK.

A Moscow-based cyber security firm, Group-IB, said it appeared to be a coordinated attack simultaneously targeting victims in the two former Soviet neighbours. Analysts said the virus called Petrwrap or Petya bore similarities to the WannaCry ransomware that infected more than 230,000 computers in 150 countries in May.

Affected organisations included the Rosneft oil major and its recently acquired subsidiary Bashneft, metals major Evraz, as well as Russian divisions of Mars, Nivea, TESA, and a number of banks, altogether over 80 entities, according to the Russian business daily Vedomosti.