Renault and Nissan have been attacked by online hackers, affecting production at Nissan's Sunderland factory. The attacks are reported to have been carried out by the same group which attacked UK’s National Health Services (NHS) this week. The BBC reports Renault is the first French company to be affected by the cyber attack which steals and encrypts files and documents before demanding a fee of $300 (around Rs 19,200 approx.) to decrypt them. In total, around 75,000 systems in 99 countries are believed to have been affected.

A Renault UK spokesman said, "Groupe Renault confirms it was impacted by the global cyber attack that began late on May 12. It consists of a ransomware virus. Proactive measures were taken immediately in order to stop the spread of the virus and protect the group. A full diagnosis is in progress in order to put in place the appropriate solutions to resume operations."

Nissan's Sunderland plant, where the Qashqai and Infiniti Q30 are made, has also been affected.
"Like many organisations our plant was subject to a ransomware attack affecting some of our systems on Friday evening," said a spokesman. "We are working to resolve the issue."

Most affected organisations so far have been state owned. Renault is part-owned by the French government, while other targets include the NHS and Russian state-owned rail services. It's unknown who is behind the global attack, and Europol is investigating. Nissan is part of the Renault-Nissan Alliance partnership.