Norsk Hydro, one of the world’s largest aluminum producers, battled on Tuesday to contain a cyber attack which halted parts of its production, the latest example of the damage hackers can cause to business and industry.
The company shut several metal extrusion and rolled products plants, which transform aluminium ingots into components for car makers, builders and other industries, while its giant smelters in Norway were largely operating on a manual basis.
“This is a classic ransomware attack,” Chief Financial Officer Eivind Kallevik told a news conference, adding that the company had not identified the hackers. “The situation is quite severe.”
The Norwegian National Security Authority (NNSA), the state agency in charge of cybersecurity, said the attack used a virus known as LockerGoga, a relatively new strain of so-called ransomware which encrypts computer files and demands payment to unlock them.
Kallevik, who could not turn on…
