Police seize servers of Ukrainian software firm after cyber attack

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‍Ukrainian police on Tuesday seized the servers of an accounting software firm suspected of spreading a malware virus which crippled computer systems at major companies around the world last week, a senior police official said.

The head of Ukraine's Cyber Police, Serhiy Demedyuk, told Reuters the servers of M.E.Doc – Ukraine's most popular accounting software – had been seized as part of an investigation into the attack.

Ukrainian Cyber Police Chief Serhiy Demedyuk speaks during an interview in Kiev, Ukraine June 23, 2017. /VCG Photo

Though they are still trying to establish who was behind last week's attack, Ukrainian intelligence officials and security firms have said some of the initial infections were spread via a malicious update issued by M.E.Doc, charges the company's owners deny.

The owners were not immediately available for comment on Tuesday.

Premium Service, which says it is an official dealer of M.E.Doc's software, wrote a post on M.E.Doc's Facebook page saying masked men were searching M.E.Doc's offices and that the software firm's servers and services were down.

A laptop display (R) showing part of a code which representatives of Ukrainian cyber security firm ISSP say is a component of the Petya malware computer virus, with an employee working nearby at the ISSP office in Kiev, Ukraine July 4, 2017. /Reuters Photo

Premium Service could not be reached for further comment.

Cyber Police spokeswoman Yulia Kvitko said investigative actions were continuing at M.E.Doc's offices, adding that further comment would be made on Wednesday.

The police move came after cyber security investigators unearthed further evidence on Tuesday that the attack had been planned months in advance by highly-skilled hackers, who they said had inserted a vulnerability into the M.E.Doc program.

Oleg Derevianko, board chairman at Ukrainian cyber security firm ISSP, speaks during an interview at an office in Kiev, Ukraine July 4, 2017. /Reuters Photo

Ukraine also took steps on Tuesday to extend its state tax deadline by one month to help businesses hit by the malware assault.

Researchers at Slovakian security software firm ESET said they had found a "backdoor" written into some of M.E.Doc's software updates, likely with access to the company's source code, which allowed hackers to enter companies' systems undetected.

(Source: Reuters)

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