Some 1,900 computers in Việt Nam have been attacked by WannaCry virus – one of the largest-ever cyber-attacks affecting computers across the globe.

The affected computers included 1,600 computers in agencies and businesses and 300 private computers.

The data was revealed on Tuesday afternoon by BKAV Corporation, the largest internet security firm in Việt Nam.

A representative from the corporation said the WannaCry virus had yet to spread in Việt Nam, however, four million computers in Việt Nam were discovered to suffer from a Windows vulnerability codenamed EternalBlue.

It meant the virus could hit the computers at any time and the number of affected computers could rapidly increase, he said.

Vũ Ngọc Sơn, deputy head of the corporation’s anti-malware department, said, “The WannaCry ransomware attack may just be the tip of the iceberg.”

The US National Security Agency was suspected to be using the vulnerability in its spy programme. There was also a possibility that a spy agency of another country was also secretly exploiting the vulnerability, installing spy software locally to carry out APT (advanced persistent threat) attacks,” he said.

Meanwhile, in a related move, BKAV has upgraded and freely offered a tool to help computer users in scanning and patching the vulnerability. Users can access to Bkav.com.vn/Tool/CheckWanCry.exe to download the tool.

Previously, the Ministry of Information and Communication said the ransomware was extremely dangerous as it was capable of stealing information and decrypting the entire system that had been infected.

Once the computer’s data was encrypted or "locked down," a message would appear saying the users’ files were no longer accessible. To retrieve data, users were asked to pay large sums of money to get a decryption key. The longer the users waited, the higher the ransom money. The hackers behind WannaCry only accepted ransom paid via BitCoin, a digital currency that ensures the transaction cannot be traced.

According to AFP, security researchers on Monday reported signs of a potential North Korea link to the massive cyberattack campaign that sparked havoc in computer systems worldwide.

Following days of disruptions affecting networks worldwide, a top US official said the number of computers affected had reached 300,000, but that infection rate had slowed./.

VNF/VNS