Massive ransomware attack strikes as Americans leave town for Independence Day celebrations: report

The Fourth of July holiday won't be much fun for IT staff scrambling to respond to a massive cyber attack.

"A successful ransomware attack on a single company has spread to at least 200 organizations, according to cybersecurity firm Huntress Labs, making it one of the single largest criminal ransomware sprees in history. The attack, first revealed Friday afternoon, is believed to be affiliated with the prolific ransomware gang REvil and perpetuated through Kaseya, an international company that remotely controls programs for companies that, in turn, manage internet services for businesses," Kevin Collier reported for NBC News.

"The timing, just ahead of Fourth of July weekend, is unlikely to be a coincidence. Ransomware hackers often time their attacks to start at the beginning of a holiday or weekend, as that minimizes the number of cybersecurity professionals who might be able to quickly jump on and stop the malicious software's spread," Collier noted.

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency announced on Friday it is "taking action" to address the "Kaseya VSA Supply-Chain Ransomware Attack."