(LONDON) — Dozens of countries were hit with a huge cyberextortion attack Friday that locked up computers and held users’ files for ransom at a multitude of hospitals, companies and government agencies.
The attack appeared to exploit a vulnerability that was purportedly identified by the U.S. National Security Agency for its own intelligence-gathering purposes and was later leaked to the internet.
Britain’s national health service was hit hard, its hospitals forced to close wards and emergency rooms. Spain, Portugal and Russia were also struck. Several cybersecurity firms said they had identified the malicious software behind the attack in upward of 60 countries, …read more
Source: Time
