Computers at three banks, pharmaceutical company hacked; hackers demand ransom in bitcoins

Hackers seized control of computers at three banks and a pharmaceutical company about a week ago, then demanded a ransom in bitcoins for the decryption keys to unfreeze them.

The attackers accessed the system by compromising IT administrators’ computers, people aware of the matter said. In all four cases, the hackers are said to have used the Lechiffre ransomware.