The spread of the ransomware virus WannaCry, which locked up more than 100,000 computers, had slowed on Sunday, but new versions of the worm were expected even while the world was yet to take stock of the extent of damage from Friday’s attack.
Monday is expected to be a busy day, especially in Asia which may not have seen the worst of the impact yet, as companies and organisations turn on their computers.
The ransomware worm that stopped car factories, hospitals, shops and schools over the weekend worldwide, with Asia having escaped the worst so far, could wreak fresh havoc on Monday when employees log back on, cyber security experts warned.
Some of the world’s largest institutions and government agencies have been affected so far, including the Russian interior ministry, FedEx in the US and Britain’s National Health Service.
Other major hits included automaker Renault and its arm Dacia, the Nissan plant in northeast England, German rail operator Deutsche Bahn, Spain’s telecom giant Telefonica, Portugal Telecom and Telefonica Argentina, and a hospital in Jakarta that cautioned of big queues on Monday when about 500 people were due to register.
One estimate put it as high as a billion dollars, but till Saturday, some $33,000 had been paid into the several bitcoin accounts associated with the ransomware, according to Elliptic, a company that tracks online financial transactions involving virtual currencies.
On the other hand the price of Bitcoin went to the peak value of $1800 after the big plunge it took after the ransomware attack news broke out. From couple of days the value of Bitcoin is back to negative side and trading down by 3 % and at $ 1741.12 value today.