14 May,2017 08:33 AM IST | London | Agencies
Expert who stopped spread of attack says criminals will 'change the code and start again'
Victims were tricked into opening malicious malware attachments
A global cyber attack leveraging hacking tools widely believed by researchers to have been developed by the US National Security Agency disrupted Britain's health system and infected computers in nearly 100 countries on Friday.
The wave of cyber attacks wreaking havoc cross the globe is "at an unprecedented level", European Union's law enforcement agency Europol said yesterday.
Cyber extortionists tricked victims into opening malicious malware attachments to spam emails that appeared to contain job offers and other legitimate files. The ransomware encrypted data on the computers, demanding payments of $300 to $600 in Bitcoins to restore access.
Researchers with security software maker Avast said they had observed 75,000 infections in 99 countries with Russia, Ukraine and Taiwan the top targets.
The most disruptive attacks were reported in Britain, where hospitals and clinics were forced to turn away patients after losing access to computers.
Still, only a small number of US-headquartered organisations were hit because the hackers appear to have begun the campaign by targeting organisations in Europe.
