Up to 1,500 Businesses Affected by Ransomware Attack, US Firm's CEO Says

Between 800 and 1,500 businesses around the world have been affected by a ransomware attack centered on U.S. information technology firm Kaseya, its chief executive said Monday. 

Fred Voccola, the Florida-based company's CEO, said in an interview that it was hard to estimate the precise impact of Friday's attack because those hit were mainly customers of Kaseya's customers.  Kaseya provides software tools to information technology outsourcing shops: companies that typically handle back-office work for companies too small or modestly resourced to have their own tech departments.  One of those tools was subverted Friday, allowing the hackers to paralyze hundreds of businesses on five continents. Although most of those affected have been small concerns such as dentists' offices or accountants, the disruption has been felt more keenly in Sweden, where hundreds of supermarkets had to close because their cash registers were inoperative, or New Zealand, where schools and kindergartens were knocked offline.