London — Security agencies are hunting for those behind a crippling cyberattack which has so far hit hundreds of thousands of computers worldwide, including at government agencies, factories and health services. Here is what we know so far about the cyber ransom attacks: The cyberattacks started Friday and spread rapidly around the globe using a security flaw in Microsoft’s Windows XP operating system, an older version that is no longer given mainstream tech support by the US giant. The so-called WannaCry ransomware locks access to user files and in an onscreen message demands payment of $300 in the virtual currency Bitcoin in order to decrypt the files. Victims have been advised by security experts not to pay up. The attack is unique, according to policing agency Europol, because it combines ransomware with a worm function, meaning once one machine is infected, the entire internal network is scanned and other vulnerable machines are infected. Europol chief Rob Wainwright said compu...
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