Italy warns about hacker attack on servers in several countries – 05/02/2023 – Market

Thousands of computer servers around the world have been hit by a hacker attack, said Italy’s national cybersecurity agency (ACN), which warned organizations to protect themselves.

The attack targets a vulnerability in VMware VMV.N ESXi servers, ACN Director Roberto Baldoni told Reuters.

A VMware spokesperson said the company is aware of the incidents and is providing an update package to address the vulnerability, known since February 2021.

The Italian agency ANSA, citing ACN, reported that servers were compromised in other European countries, such as France and Finland, and also in the US and Canada. Until the publication of this report, no information had been released about possible attacks involving Brazil.

Dozens of Italian organizations were likely affected and many more were warned to take steps to avoid losing access to their systems.

Telecom Italia customers reported internet problems on Sunday, but the two issues are unrelated, according to initial information.

US cybersecurity officials said they were assessing the impact of the incident.

“The Cisa [Agência de Cibersegurança e Infraestrutura de Segurança dos EUA] is working with our public and private sector to measure the impact of these reported incidents and provide assistance where needed,” the organization said in a statement.