WPP, the world’s largest advertising group, has fallen prey to a suspected cyber attack.
On Tuesday afternoon Sir Martin Sorrell’s global business said IT systems in several of its UK-based agencies had been affected, which at the time of writing included GroupM, MediaCom and Young & Rubicam.
WPP said it was taking “appropriate measures”, but some Twitter users reported that entire office systems were down, and staff had been told to turn off computers.
In a statement issued on Tuesday afternoon, WPP said: “IT systems in several WPP companies have been affected by a suspected cyber attack. We are assessing the situation, taking appropriate measures and will update as soon as possible.”
As WPP’s UK agencies began to report issues, further reports of similar hacks began to emerge from around the globe. The BBC said that Ukrainian firms, including the state power distributor and Kiev’s main airport were among those affected.
Other reports said Russian oil producer Rosneft and Danish shipping company Maersk have also suffered cyber attacks today.
As the news of the attack emerged, shares in WPP dropped 0.91%.
On Wednesday 28 June, WPP tweeted: “On Tuesday 27 June a number of WPP companies – though not all – were affected by the ransomware attach that hit organisations around the world.
“We are working with out IT partners and law enforcement agencies to take all appropriate precautionary measures, restore services where they have been disrupted, and keep the impact on clients, partners and our people to a minimum. Having taken steps to contain the attack, the priority now is to return to normal operations as soon as possible while protecting our systems.
“Our operations have not been uniformly affected, and issues are being addressed on a company-by-company basis. Many of our businesses are experiencing no or minimal disruption.”
