Netherlands suffers little impact but remains alert to ransomware attacks

The large-scale cyber ransomware attacks which since Friday has hit more than 150 countries had little impact in the Netherlands but all should remain alert, Patricia Zorko, director of the Dutch National Cyber Security Center (NCSC) said on Monday.

The warning system has worked well and the Netherlands has been in a relatively good situation, Zorko told Dutch television NOS. Zorko is also deputy chief of the Dutch government's Naitonal Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism (NCTV).

In the Netherlands, only the parking company Q-Park is affected by this cyber attack during the weekend. At its parking garages in Rotterdam, Hoofddorp and Veenendaal, ATMs read a message that the company must pay ransom to regain access to data on the computer.

After many networks were activated since Monday morning, the NCSC has received no reports of hacks from other companies.

But all should remain alert and the NCSC itself is also alert for new attacks or variants of the virus, stressed Zorko.

The NCSC had warned in March and April of ransomware attacks.

"We work well with the business community and all government bodies," said Zorko. "The police are also vigilant. This has ensured that we could catch the first blows."

Ransomware is malicious software that encrypts a computer's files and allows access again only when the user pays "ransom" to the attacker. Endit