Ukraine hit by ‘Badrabbit’ malware, airport and metro affected

CERT-Ukraine asks owners of telecommunication systems to comply with stricter cyber security requirements.

The chief of Ukraine’s cyber police said Ukraine was attacked on Tuesday by malware called BadRabbit, adding that the country was barely affected.

A laptop displays a message after being infected by a ransomware as part of a worldwide cyberattack on June 27, 2017 in Geldrop. (AFP Representative Photo)

Earlier the airport in the southern city of Odessa said it had tightened security measures after being hit by a cyber attack, while the metro system in the capital Kiev reported a hack on its payment system.

Asked whether the malware BadRabbit was used in the attacks, Cyber Police Chief Serhiy Demedyuk said by text message “yes, correct”.

Ukraine, which believes Russia is behind regular attacks on its computer systems, is trying to roll out a national strategy to keep state institutions and major companies safe. Moscow denies that it is behind cyber attacks on its neighbour.