Advertiser WPP says that some operations still affected by cyber attack

LONDON (Reuters) - WPP, the world's biggest advertising agency, said on Thursday that some of its operations continued to be affected by a ransomware attack that went around the world earlier in the week, but that services were gradually being restored.

On Tuesday a major global cyber attack disrupted computers at a range of multinational firms, including WPP, Russia's biggest oil company and Ukrainian banks, with a virus similar to the ransomware that infected more than 300,000 computers last month.

"While the attack did not affect the entire Group, and many of our companies are fully functional, some continue to be disrupted," WPP said in a statement, adding that it took steps on Tuesday to ensure client data was protected.

"Steady progress is being made towards restoring services. However, in doing so, our emphasis is not only on speed but on safety, and on minimising the impact for our people, partners and clients."

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(Reporting by Alistair Smout and Esha Vaish. Editing by Andrew MacAskill)