DLA Piper was hit on Tuesday afternoon by a huge ransomware attack that crippled its communications network for over two days.

Systems across the firm's global network crashed or were frozen, and email and phone lines were still down some 48 hours later. A source said that the hackers had asked DLA to cough up an unspecified wedge of bitcoin in order to call off the attack. Baker McKenzie denied responsibility, or probably would have done had we asked them.

     

Large numbers of sizeable corporates across the world have been sunk by similar attacks - including Maersk, Rosneft, WPP and Chicken Shack on the Fulham Road. And the Ukranian government was hit particularly hard, with large numbers of state enterprises including the postal service, government ministries, banks and airports all hit. Although, unlike DLA, the Ukranian government still managed to see the funny side on twitter:

     

So DLA can take some small comfort in the fact that it's not alone, although it appears to be the only major law firm to have been hit so far.

48 hours after the attack the firm's systems were still down. A spokeswoman, via her mobile, told RollOnFriday that the firm was working to restore them by Thursday evening. She said that "the firm, like many other reported companies, has experienced issues with some of its systems due to suspected Malware. We are taking steps to remedy the issue as quickly as possible... possible... possible... possible... bzzzzz click click nrrrrrrrrrrrr". 
 
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Comments

Anonymous 01 July 17 20:33

Because DLA are the only major law firm to have offices in Ukraine with the tax software that was exploited by hackers!!!!!!

Anonymous 03 July 17 16:07

You'll find DLA IT staff *actually* tweeting independent security analysts asking on ways to fix it.

I lolled.

Roll On Friday 03 July 17 16:07

You'll find DLA IT staff *actually* tweeting security analysts trying to find a way to fix it.

I lolled.