CYBER ATTACK: New variant of ‘WannaCry’ virus is infecting 3,600 computers per HOUR
A DEVASTATING new version of the “WannaCry” virus that hit the NHS has been discovered – and it is infecting 3,600 computers an hour, a cyber security firm revealed.
By THOMAS HUNT
Express.co.uk
Tue, May 16, 2017
Maya Horowitz, a Check Point Software Technologies researcher, claimed the new virus was infecting computers at a rate of about one per second.
She added the company acted swiftly to prevent the new virus from encrypting data or spreading to other computers by activating a “kill switch” in the software.
Yet it is thought over 40,000 machines appear to have been infected by the second variation of the malware, despite the best efforts of cyber security companies.
The original cyber attack began spreading worldwide on Friday and by yesterday it had infected 300,000 computers in more than 150 countries.
A Europol spokesman said: “For now, it does not look like the number of infected computers is increasing. We will get a decryption tool eventually, but for the moment, it’s still a live threat and we’re still in disaster recovery mode.”
Wanna Decryptor, also known as WannaCry or wcry, is the ransomware program behind the global cyber attack that affected the NHS.
The Rest…HERE
