Nielsen , a market research and data analytics company , was unable to release ratings for Australian television due to a ransomware attack.
TV ratings were unable to air either Tuesday or Wednesday night, and local TV blog, TV Tonight reports that ratings may not be available again until early next week.
Nielsen says that the data collection has not stopped and will be published once the attack is over. “We are confident that we will keep the industry informed as new information becomes available on this matter,” the company spokesperson added.
Nielsen stated that the attack had been limited to most of its global operations, but had affected the data centre of Australian television measurements.
«Global and local infrastructure teams at Nielsen took measures to limit the incident, launched a strong investigation and are currently working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible», said a company spokesperson to local media.
Increase in ransomware incidents
In recent hours, other companies have fallen victim to ransomware attacks besides Nielsen. Smart watch maker Garmin was forced to halt many of its operations after some of its production systems and network were encrypted by hackers. The company was even forced to shut down its website, data synchronization service, airline database, call centers and some production lines in Asia.
Additionally, malicious actors have targeted at least eight universities in the United Kingdom and Canada with ransomware, through attacks on cloud computing systems and education management software provider Blackbaud.
However, the non-profit organizations Human Rights Watch and Young Minds also confirmed that they were affected by the breach.
