But while FedEx Corp. reported that its Windows computers were "experiencing interference" from malware - it wouldn't say if it had been hit by the ransomware - other impacts in the US were not readily apparent on Saturday. "This is not targeted at the NHS".
EXPERTS are working to disrupt an unprecedented worldwide cyber attack which has crippled NHS services and hit vehicle manufacturer Nissan. Late on Friday, Microsoft also released patches for a range of long discontinued software, including Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. The NSA tools were stolen by hackers and dumped on the internet. The agency reported the flaw to company after a security breach was discovered in August, according to former USA officials speaking on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the topic.
The malware was made available online on April 14 through a dump by a group called Shadow Brokers, which claimed past year to have stolen a cache of "cyber weapons" from the National Security Agency (NSA).
Microsoft issued a security update on March 14 about vulnerabilities in the Windows system.
Friday's attack largely hit businesses and large organizations: United Kingdom hospitals, a Spanish telecom, FedEx, the Russian Interior Ministry.
Peter Eckersley, technology projects director for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a San Francisco-based civil liberties group that has sharply criticized the NSA for its aggressive surveillance, said: "In this instance, it's a little unfair to blame the NSA".
"Europol has said that it is unprecedented in terms of the scale of the cyber attack that has taken place". Now it's hitting countries around the world.
The virus is usually covertly installed on to computers by hiding within emails containing links, which users are tricked into opening. This, security experts said, marked an unprecedented escalation in the risk of fresh attacks spreading in the coming days and weeks.
On Saturday, a cybersecurity researcher told Agence France-Presse he had accidentally discovered a "kill switch" that can prevent the spread of the ransomware. They warned that the malware now could move from large networks to individual users.
The worm is primarily impacting business, where it can spread quickly through a network to take down an entire company. It appeared as if they had been deleted, he said.
NHS England described the incident as a "ransomware" attack.
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Amid suggestions outdated software left some health service systems vulnerable after a security package was stopped in 2015, Ms Rudd said it is important to remember that it was not just the NHS which had been affected.
Consumers and businesses who have updated to the most recent Microsoft Windows software are protected from WannaCry. "We are working with customers to provide additional assistance".
The US Computer Emergency Readiness Team (USCRT) under the Department of Homeland Security said it has received multiple reports of WannaCry ransomware infections in many countries around the world. Kaspersky noted that the actual number of attacks may be far higher.
It encrypts files on a user's computer, blocking them from view, before demanding money, via an on-screen message, to access them again.
He says "today, it happened to 10,000 computers. there's no barrier to do it tomorrow to 100 million computers". It was not clear who would receive the funds. Victims have six hours to pay before a $300 ransom goes up, one expert said.
In London, the largest NHS trust in the country cancelled all outpatient appointments at five of its hospitals on Saturday.
"It's compromising having to open files and complete prescriptions". Hospitals had to close, operations were cancelled, and doctors were forced to resort to pen and paper to work.
The BBC reported that a list of affected locations included London, Blackburn, Nottingham, Cumbria and Hertfordshire.
A senior nurse with NHS Lanarkshire in Scotland posted a video on Twitter appealing to members of the public "to stay away from acute hospitals unless it's an absolute emergency situation" while its IT systems are affected. He said the industry is chronically hobbled by regulation and insufficient investment in computer security.
The statement said there were thousands of cyberattacks daily "and Romania is no exception". It said the commission plans a full review of European Union cybersecurity measures by September.
Interestingly, the same tool is believed to have been used by another anonymous hacking group to gain remote access to computers, that brought parts of the NHS to a standstill. The releases continued throughout the fall and into the spring.
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