A new version of ransomware is causing disruption across Europe, Ukraine being the hardest hit, and is spreading slowly to the US. The Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Mumbai, operated by AP Moller-Maersk, is barely operational due to the cyber-attack.

Ukraine and Russia are the hardest hit, with several banks and state power grids having been affected. Russia`s Kaspersky Lab said that this was a new strain of ransomware. Many international companies, including WPP, Saint Gobain, AP Moller-Maersk, Rosnet and Merck & Co., have been affected. The scale is massive and the strain appears to be spreading fast.

There is still no definite news on what makes this attack more potent that the one in May or who is behind it, although reports suggest that it might have originated in Russia.