So WPP got slammed by a cyberattack yesterday. Unfortunately, this meant a whole lot of people didn’t quite know what to do.
But never fear: Sir Martin Sorrell wants us to know ’tis but a momentary blip. While some staffers resorted to drawing stuff and playing pool and quite a few were told to go home, he sent out an all-staff memo last night to tell his tens of thousands of employees—and the world at large—that WPP is still open for business.
The way we hear it, WPP employees unfortunate enough to use Windows machines (ugh) are still having trouble with their servers while the Mac geeks are back to work making up the difference.
The holding company is officially still working on the problem.
— WPP (@WPP) June 28, 2017
And here’s the full memo.
Message to all staff
Cyber Attack – Update
As you will know, organisations around the world have been hit by a cyber attack. A number of WPP companies – though not all – have been affected.
We are working with our IT partners and law enforcement agencies to assess the situation, take all precautionary steps and return to normal operations as soon as we can. At this time, we have no indication that either employee or client data has been compromised. As you would expect, our companies and teams are in contact with clients on an ongoing basis.
Many of you will have experienced significant disruption to your work. However, contrary to some press reports, WPP and its companies are still very much open for business.
We are a group packed full of highly creative, ingenious and dedicated people. I urge you all to put those qualities to use in making sure that what our clients experience in the hours and days ahead is as close to business as usual as we can possibly manage.
The IT teams in all our companies affected, coordinated by the Group IT function, are working hard to balance the need to protect our systems and the need to bring them back online in a timely fashion. The approach and solution will vary from company to company. It is crucial that you give them your full cooperation and support, and follow their instructions.
Thank you.
Martin