Dutch National Cyber Security Centre warns that ransomware has infected thousands of businesses.

In November 2019, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) in the Netherlands revealed in a report that around 1,800 companies in the world have been affected by ransomware.

As per the report, three strains of ransomware viruses,LockerGoga, MegaCortex, and Ryuk, use the same digital infrastructure to carry out attacks. Though the report doesn't list the names of affected companies, the targets are large organizations raking in billions of dollars in revenue. The affected sectors are automotive, chemical, health, construction, food, and entertainment. Most companies haven't made their breaches public, and have resorted to restoring data from backups or paying the ransom. The Dutch Broadcasting Foundation (NOS) reported that a US-based chemical company with its branch in the Netherlands is also a victim.

NCSC blames zero-day vulnerabilities and the organizations' poor security measures for these attacks. In June, a MegaCortex sample was used in targeted attacks against enterprises. In March, LockerGoga ransomware impacted Norsk Hydro, one of the largest aluminum producers in the world. As for Ryuk, its recent target was Prosegur, a Spanish multinational security company. NCSC has recommended that all companies tighten their security posture to prevent such incidents in the future.

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