NotPetya Ransomware (2017)

Another powerful cyberattack occurred in 2017, known as NotPetya. It began in Ukraine, targeting government institutions and private companies, but quickly spread across the globe. Unlike most ransomware, NotPetya was not primarily about money. While it appeared to be ransomware demanding payment for data recovery, it was actually designed to permanently destroy systems. The attack spread through a compromised update of a popular accounting software, automatically infecting computers connected to the same network. Maersk, one of the largest shipping companies in the world, was severely affected. Almost all of its systems were shut down, impacting its operations worldwide and causing massive financial losses. For several days, the company was forced to operate manually, which highlighted the extreme extent of its dependency on technology.