Ransom Threat Seen Spreading in Unprecedented Global Attack

An unrivaled global cyber-attack is poised to continue claiming victims, even as U.K. health facilities whose systems were crippled early in the assault are returning to normal operation, according to Bloomberg.

Additional disruptions are possible as people return to work and turn on their desktop systems, Europol Executive Director Rob Wainwright said on ITV’s “Peston on Sunday“ broadcast. More than 200,000 computers in more than 150 countries have so far been infected, according to the European Union’s law enforcement agency. “At the moment, we’re in the face of an escalating threat,“ Wainwright said.

The malware, using a technique purportedly stolen from the U.S. National Security Agency, affected the U.K.’s National Health Service, Russia’s Ministry of Interior, Germany’s Deutsche Bahn rail system, automakers Nissan and Renault, logistics giant FedEx, and other company and hospital computer systems in countries from Eastern Europe to the U.S. and Asia.

The initial attack was stifled when a security researcher disabled a key mechanism used by the worm to spread, but experts said the hackers were likely to mount a second attack because so many users of personal computers with Microsoft operating systems couldn’t or didn’t download a security patch released in March that Microsoft had labeled “critical.“