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NotPetya Ransomware Attack Cost Shipping Giant Maersk Over $200 Million

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In June, the NotPetya ransomware hit companies in the U.S. and throughout Europe. One of those hardest hit was Copenhagen-based shipping giant A.P. Moller-Maersk, which moves about one-fifth of the world's freight. Operations at Maersk terminals in four different countries were impacted, causing delays and disruption that lasted weeks.

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Now that the dust has finally settled, Maersk has revealed the financial impact the NotPetya attack had. According to a statement issued by the company, the total cost for dealing with the outbreak will land somewhere in the $200 to $300 million range. NotPetya-related costs contributed to a $264 million quarterly loss despite revenues rising from $8.7 billion to $9.6 billion year-over-year.

Even at the $300 million mark, things could have been much worse for Maersk. CEO Soeren Skou said there was "no data breach or data loss," which could have been devastating given secretive nature of the shipping industry. It's also particular good news, given that some experts now believe that NotPetya was actually intended to be a data-wiping weapon and not traditional ransomware.

Industry analysts expect that businesses around the globe will lose a combined $5 billion dealing with ransomware this year. In 2015, the FBI pinned total losses at a comparatively modest $1.7 billion. Even though the number of ransomware attacks is expected to dip slightly, cybercriminals have stepped up their efforts to target specific victims.

Maersk was among the hardest hit this year, but it certainly wasn't alone. Pharmaceutical titan Merck was also hit by NotPetya, as was FedEx. HBO continues to deal with fallout from a major hacking incident that involved the leak of executive emails, Game of Thrones scripts, and private information about the show's cast.