Axa division in Asia hit by ransomware cyber attack

PARIS (Reuters) - French insurer Axa said on Sunday that one of its businesses in Asia was hit by a ransomware attack, adding that it was investigating after some data processed in Thailand was accessed.

The group said the cyber attack had targeted its Asia Assistance division, impacting IT operations in Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong and the Philippines.

"As a result, certain data processed by Inter Partners Asia (IPA) in Thailand has been accessed," the Paris-based company said, adding it would notify corporate clients and individuals if it found they had been affected.

The Financial Times earlier reported the attack, adding that it came after cyber criminals using ransomware called Avaddon said on Saturday that they had hacked the group's Asia operations and stolen three terabytes of data, in a dark web post seen by the newspaper.

(Reporting by Gwenaelle Barzic; Writing by Sarah White; Editing by Alex Richardson)