Hackers may have hit Oz

A CYBER security expert says it’s possible Australian organisations have been affected by a global malware attack but are staying tight-lipped. The socalled ransomware has wormed its way into thousands of computers in an extortion plot.

Cyber Security Minister Dan Tehan said Australian organisations do not appear to have been affected. But University of Melbourne computing expert Dr Suelette Dreyfus believed it was possible local organisations had been hit, only they’re keeping it under wraps “because they don’t want to instil a lack of trust in their system”.

More than 75,000 attacks reportedly happened in almost 100 countries, with Russia, Ukraine and Taiwan hardest hit.

A 22-year-old computer researcher spent less than $20 on a successful plan to slow the global cyberattack that struck dozens of countries around the world.

Deep inside the nasty “Wanna Cry” internet worm was a “kill switch,” likely inserted by the cyber crooks in case something went wrong.

The kill switch was a website address.

If the malware was directed to attack that address, its spread would slow.

The young British researcher, who uses the Twitter handle @MalwareTechBlog, noticed the domain name was fake.

It had never been registered, or set up on a server.

“I saw it wasn’t registered and thought, ‘I’ll have that’,’’ he told The Daily Beast.

The researcher bought the domain name on a website called NameCheap.com for $US10.69, and set it up on a server in Los Angeles.

When the malware connects infected computers to the Los Angeles server, it shuts down automatically, MalwareTech explained.

MalwareTech told The Daily Beast that whoever launched the destructive malware will probably relaunch it to get around the Los Angeles server.

If people don’t update their Windows systems then “it’s just going to keep going,” he said.

On Friday, the malware took down thousands of computers running old versions of the Windows operating system.

“WannaCry” shuts down users’ computers, and demands a payment of $US300 ($406) in Bitcoin in exchange for the safe return of files.

Britain’s National Health Service was especially hard hit in the attack, which hit tens of thousands of computers in 100 countries.

Microsoft published a Windows update in March that would stop WannaCry.

But many people and companies operate old versions of Windows that remain vulnerable to attack.