Global cyberattack: Phone scammer warning for NZ

[JennyLeez]

New Zealanders are saying they've been hit by the cyber attack that's wreaking havoc around the globe.

The government's Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) said in a message on Twitter this afternoon that it had received a "small number of unconfirmed reports" that the ransomware attack as affecting New Zealanders.

Officials and experts on Sunday urged organizations and companies to update their operating systems immediately to ensure they aren't vulnerable to a second, more powerful version of the malicious software. The cyber attack paralysed computers that run Britain's hospital network, Germany's national railway and scores of other companies and government agencies worldwide.

The attack, already believed to be the biggest online extortion scheme ever recorded, is an "escalating threat" after hitting 200,000 victims across the world since Friday, according to the head of Europol, Europe's policing agency.

"The numbers are still going up," he said. "We've seen that the slowdown of the infection rate over Friday night, after a temporary fix around it, has now been overcome by a second variation the criminals have released."

His concerns were echoed by James Clapper, former director of national intelligence under President Barack Obama. In an interview on ABC's "This Week," Clapper said the worry was "this ransomware attack will be even larger" as people return to their desks after the weekend.

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