A cyber attack has destroyed almost 20 years ' worth of US - based data from email provider VFEmail . The attackers confirmed that an unknown hacker had formatted the disks on every server and back - up server , erasing all the files held since the provider 's inception in 2001 . VFEmail described the incident as causing " catastrophic disruption " , effectively ending the provider 's operations for good . Fortunately , some users had requested that their data not be stored in the US , so was kept on servers in the Netherlands where back - up servers were unaffected . The motive behind the attack remains unknown as no ransom was paid .
A cyber attack has destroyed almost 20 years' worth of US-based data from email provider VFEmail. The company confirmed that an unknown hacker had formatted the disks on every server and back-up server, erasing all the files held since the provider's inception in 2001. VFEmail described the incident as causing "catastrophic destruction", effectively ending the firm's operations for good. Fortunately, some users had requested that their data not be stored in the US, so was kept on servers in the Netherlands where back-up servers were unaffected. The motivation behind the attack remains unknown as no ransom was requested.