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A ransomware operation known as Akira has been seen encrypting VMware ESXi virtual machines using a Linux encryptor after a couple of months of targeting Windows systems.

Major industries like education and finance have been in the crosshairs of the new ransomware, which has been encrypting stolen data from breached networks and marking compromised files with the .akira extension.

The double extortion attacks have seen some organizations receive demands to pay millions in return for their data, according to Bleeping Computer.