Petya’s Latest Variant — Bad Rabbit — Leaves Companies in Shambles as It Spreads Worldwide; US Department of Homeland Security on Alert.

Early Wednesday morning, leading anti-virus security company, Avast, reported that the Bad Rabbit virus – a variant of Petya ransomware — had made its way to the US. Though specific breach details are difficult to come by, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a warning about Bad Rabbit yesterday stating:

“US-CERT has received multiple reports of Bad Rabbit ransomware infections in many countries around the world. This suspected variant of Petya ransomware is malicious software that infects a computer and restricts user access to the infected machine until a ransom is paid to unlock it. US-CERT discourages individuals and organizations from paying the ransom, as this does not guarantee that access will be restored. Using unpatched and unsupported software may increase the risk of proliferation of cybersecurity threats, such as ransomware.”

DHS urged individuals and businesses to take notice and be vigilant in the face of this latest malware attack. To combat the threat, DHS is urging IT professionals to review US-CERT Alerts TA16-181A and TA17-132A, each of which describe recent ransomware events.

There is certainly no shortage of hacker activity as of late. Earlier this year, a ransomware variant called Petya spread across North America hitting corporate giants like Merck and FedEx. The virus is so serious that some affected companies we’re faced with the fact that their data was simply not recoverable. In fact, FedEx and other affected companies faced material financial impact in light of the attack. Merck also experienced financial losses of over $275 million, prompting many businesses to take a second look at cybersecurity insurance strategies.