The largest forensic service provider in the UK is attacked by ransomware

The UK’s largest forensic service provider, Eurofins, was infected with ransomware, and the British police suspended cooperation with the testing company. The company said the attack was very complicated and had paid the ransom to the hacker, but did not tell how much it was paid and when it was paid. The company added that it is working with law enforcement agencies in the UK and elsewhere to investigate.

“We are securing evidence and forensically analysing infected computers, but due to the quantity of data involved and the complexity of these kinds of inquiries, this is an investigation which will take time, therefore we cannot comment further at this time,” The National Crime Prevention Agency (NCA) said.

The cyberattack occurred on the first weekend of June and affected the judicial work of the police. Eurofins accounts for more than half of the forensic testing services in the UK. In the UK, Eurofins handles more than 70,000 criminal cases each year. It provides services such as DNA testing, poison analysis, gun testing and computer forensics for police stations across the UK. Because of this incident, DNA and blood samples that require urgent testing are sent to other suppliers. In addition, some court hearings have been postponed because of the inability to obtain Eurofins analysis.

It is assumed that the ransom is likely to be paid between June 10 and June 24. Eurofins released a long statement about the attack, and on June 24, the company issued a statement saying it had identified variants of the malware used in the attack and enhanced network security.

Via: theguardian