Foreign Office minister Tariq Ahmad has condemned Russia for the NotPetya cyber attacks in June 2017, which caused widespread and costly damage and destruction around the world.

A statement from the Foreign Office stated that the attack pretended to be a criminally-focused cyberattack, but its real  purpose was principally disruptive.

The primary targets for NotPetya were Ukraine’s energy, government and financial sectors, but the malware spread much further, affecting businesses across European and Russia.

The attack was spread as a fake Ukrainian tax software update, which spread rapidly, infecting hundreds of thousands of computers in over 100 countries. This malware was a variant of the previously known Petya attack, but which added a new exploit, which was used in the widespread WannaCry attack.

Worldwide Impact

Companies around the world suffered from the NotPetya attack. London-based WPP, Shipping companies AP Moller–Maersk & TNT, US-Pharmaceutical giant Merck, law firm DLA Piper, Russian energy company Rosneft and French construction materials company Saint-Gobain were all affected by the attack. Maersk revealed the attack cost the company approximately £222 million, while the WPP said NotPetya cost it between £10m and £15m before insurance.

Tariq Ahmad, the Foreign Office minister for Cybersecurity, said: “The attack showed a continued disregard for Ukrainian sovereignty. Its reckless release disrupted organisations across Europe, costing hundreds of millions of pounds.

“The Kremlin has positioned Russia in direct opposition to the West, yet it doesn’t have to be that way. We call on Russia to be the responsible member of the international community it claims to be, rather then secretly trying to undermine it.

“The United Kingdom is identifying, pursuing and responding to malicious cyber activity regardless of where it originates, imposing costs on those who would seek to do us harm. We are committed to strengthening coordinated international efforts to uphold a free, open, peaceful and secure cyber space.”

The UK’s public attribution follows US reports that Russia’s foreign intelligence agency created and was responsible for the NotPetya attacks.