Monday, August 31, 2026
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Opinion

Telecom Tweets of the Week: Telefónica hit by major ransomware attack

by Kelly Hill
written by Kelly Hill Share
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Ransomware has taken over an internal network at Spanish operator Telefónica and other companies throughout Europe, with Reuters reporting that the ransomware attack “involved a window appearing on employees’ computer screens that demanded payment with the virtual currency bitcoin in order to gain access to files.”

Telefonica confirmed the attack, saying that it  “[affected] the PCs of some employees within the company’s internal corporate network.”

https://twitter.com/pedroparralc/status/863034785526140928

Telefonica’s chief data officer responded to the news in a thread on Twitter and said that it was exaggerated but that the carrier was working with some of the other companies who’d been affected.

Britain’s National Health Service has been affected as well, stating that it believes the malware variant is Wanna Decryptor.

In other chatter, some good visualizations cropped up on where the market is in terms of penetration — especially if you include children:

https://twitter.com/BenedictEvans/status/862393913973157888

And talk about some big numbers here:

In the wake of Verizon snatching Straight Path and its millimeter wave spectrum right out of AT&T’s hands this week — and paying a huge premium along the way — Wall Street Journal profiled the guy behind Straight Path.

And as first quarter carrier results wrap up, Walt Piecyk over at BTIG Research makes a good point to think about. Hmmmm. Theories?

Follow me on Twitter: @khillrcr, or email me: [email protected]

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Kelly Hill reports on network test and measurement, AI infrastructure and regulatory issues, including spectrum, for RCR Wireless News. She began covering the wireless industry in 2005, focusing on carriers and MVNOs, then took a few years’ hiatus and returned to RCR Wireless News to write about heterogeneous networks (remember those?) and network infrastructure. Kelly is an Ohio native with a masters degree in journalism from the University of California, Berkeley, where she focused on science writing and multimedia. She has written for the San Francisco Chronicle, The Oregonian and The Canton Repository. She lives in northern Virginia, not far from Data Center Alley.

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