Dutch Research Council virtually paralysed

The Netherlands Research Council (NWO, Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek), an independent administrative body dedicated to subsidising and directing scientific research processes in the Netherlands, has reported a DoppelPaymer ransomware cyberattack on its IT network that has forced it to suspend much of its activity and face a data leak.

The cybercriminals accessed the network on 8th of February and blocked email servers, applications and phone lines. Other organisations affiliated with or using the same NWO servers have also been affected. The NWO.nl website was not affected.

Faced with refusal of NOW to pay the ransom, the cybercriminals started a corporate data leak by publishing it on the Dark Web on 24th of February.

NWO is currently working to restore all systems, as the network is still inaccessible.