UK's Weir Group hit by attempted cyber attack at end of Q3

(Reuters) -Engineering firm Weir Group said on Thursday it was the target of an attempted ransomware attack in the second half of September, which impacted third-quarter profit.

"Action (taken) to protect our infrastructure and data has led to significant temporary disruption but ... managed to minimise the impact on our customers," Chief Executive Officer Jon Stanton said.

Ransomware attacks, in which hackers freeze a target's computer systems, steal data and threaten to destroy or publicize it if they aren't paid, have accelerated in recent years, paralysing hospitals, schools, businesses and more.

Weir now expects full-year profit before taxation and amortisation to be between 230 million pounds ($313.2 million) and 245 million pounds, as delay in shipments due to the attempted hack led to revenue deferrals.

The company said that so far there was no evidence any personal or sensitive data had been compromised or encrypted.

($1 = 0.7343 pounds)

(Reporting by Aditi Sebastian in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)