Telefonica allegedly hacked and held to ransom

TELEFONICA has reportedly been hacked and held to ransom.

The telephone service provider told its employees to turn off their computers after a malicious program was discovered.

The computer virus encrypted files making them inaccessible until the company paid a ransom in Bitcoins, a form of online currency, to release the documents.

The origin of the attack is not yet known, but sources told El Mundo the culprits are believed to be in China and have asked for €276 per infected computer in Bitcoins.

Telefonica says customers have not as of yet reported issues with making phone calls or connecting to the internet, but reports say their customer service department is having difficulties operating.

El Mundo has also suggested that BBVA, Vodafone and Iberdola could also have been affected by the attack.

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