New cyberattack hits Europe, spreads globally

A new and highly virulent outbreak of data-scrambling software, which first hit Ukraine caused disruption across the world yesterday.

Following a similar attack in May (See: Major cyber-attack hits nearly 100 countries; Asia mostly spared). the fresh cyber-assault left a number of hospitals, government offices and major multinational corporations paralysed in a dramatic demonstration of how swiftly the onslaught can bring daily life to a halt.

The brunt of the attack was borne by Ukraine and Russia, which were hardest hit by the new strain of ransomware - malicious software that locked up computer files with almost unbreakable encryption and then demanded a ransom for its release.

In the US, the malware hit companies such as the drugmaker Merck and Mondelez International, the owner of food brands such as Oreo and Nabisco.

The pace at which the attack spread appeared to slow down as the day wore on, partly due to the malware appearing to require direct contact between computer networks, a factor that might have limited its spread in regions with fewer connections to Ukraine.

The origins of the malware, however, remained unclear. Researchers who studied the program found evidence its creators had borrowed from leaked National Security Agency code, raising the possibility that the digital havoc had spread using US taxpayer-funded tools.

Meanwhile, the National Security Agency had not acknowledged the use of its tools in WannaCry or other attacks. However,  computer security specialists are calling for the agency the agency to extend help to the world defend against the weapons it created.

''The NSA needs to take a leadership role in working closely with security and operating system platform vendors such as Apple and Microsoft to address the plague that they've unleashed,'' said Golan Ben-Oni, the global chief information officer at IDT, a Newark-based conglomerate hit by a separate attack in April that used the agency's hacking tools. Ben-Oni warned federal officials that more serious attacks were likely in the near future.