A massive cyber-attack using tools believed to have been stolen from the US National Security Agency (NSA) has struck organisations around the world.
Cyber-security firm Avast said it had seen 75,000 cases of the ransomware - known as WannaCry and variants of that name - around the world.
There are reports of infections in 99 countries, including Russia and China.
Among the worst hit was the National Health Service (NHS) in England and Scotland.
The BBC understands about 40 NHS organisations and some medical practices were hit, with operations and appointments cancelled.

How did the cyber-attack unfold?
The malware spread quickly on Friday, with medical staff in the UK reportedly seeing computers go down "one by one".
NHS staff shared screenshots of the WannaCry programme, which demanded a payment of $300 (£230) in virtual currency Bitcoin to unlock the files for each computer.
Throughout the day other, mainly European countries, reported infections.
Some reports said Russia had seen more infections than any other single country. Domestic banks, the interior and health ministries, the state-owned Russian railway firm and the second largest....

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cc lalasticala password= snake

Wondering why I couldn't find any thread about it since yesterday. The numbers have increased to 99 countries and Russia seems to have been affected the most.
Has the MSM blamed Russia already?

The rate the ransomeware is spreading is very massive. It's exploiting a vulnerability on Windows Operating Systems. Every organization should be running patch update on their environment at the moment to be protected as Microsoft has released an update to address the vulnerability.

ollah1:
Wondering why I couldn't find any thread about it since yesterday. The numbers have increased to 99 countries and Russia seems to have been affected the most.
Has the MSM blamed Russia already?

I just stumbled on this too, after searching the front page since morning..So surprised we don't have it on front page

dagr8:

I just stumbled on this too, after searching the front page since morning..So surprised we don't have it on front page

nairaland is more or less Lib this days @seun

dagr8:

I just stumbled on this too, after searching the front page since morning..So surprised we don't have it on front page

It's pretty much annoying. Meaningless threads hits the FP and some member refuse to create some inspiring and great threads simply cos it won't hit the FP. Perhaps, seun will look at what made Nairaland what it is today. Btw, Seun sup with nairalist?

A British researcher unexpectedly found and activated a "kill switch" to an "unprecedented" ransomware cyberattack that hit hundreds of thousands of computers around the globe at hospitals, government offices, transportation systems and major companies, including FedEx.
But even with the spread of the malicious software at least temporarily halted, researchers warned that another cyberattack could be imminent and the next one could target the United States.
"Currently the spreading of the ransomware is slowed down dramatically because a researcher found a logic bug in the malware, not because the companies around the world are having good security practice," Matt Suiche, founder of Comae Technologies, a cybersecurity company in the United Arab Emirates, told ABC News on Saturday.
Suiche said the cyberattackers could soon release a new update to the malware, making it more robust and resuming the global infection.
"I'd even say this update probably already happened," he added.
FedEx, other US companies targeted
FedEx was among the many companies worldwide hit by the sophisticated cyberattack that used leaked tools of the U.S. National Security Agency.
A FedEx spokesperson confirmed to ABC News that the U.S.-based international shipper is among the victims of the global cyberattack.


“Like many other companies, FedEx is experiencing interference with some of our Windows-based systems caused by malware,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “We are implementing remediation steps as quickly as possible. We regret any inconvenience to our customers.”
Ryan Kalember, a senior vice president at the cybersecurity firm Proofpoint, told ABC News he is aware of other U.S.-based companies who were affected but have not spoken publicly. He said the virus spread rapidly, making it difficult to identify “patient zero” and attribute the cyberattack to a particular hacker group.....

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