Just days after WannaCry ransomware that affected over 150 countries, a new global cyberattack has been unleashed.

Called ‘Petya’, the ransomware is demanding a ransom worth $300 in Bitcoin. In a blog post, Microsoft noted that the first attacks were seen in Ukraine and they have seen been quickly spreading to other countries.

“On June 27, 2017 reports of a ransomware infection began spreading across Europe. We saw the first infections in Ukraine, where more than 12,500 machines encountered the threat. We then observed infections in another 64 countries, including Belgium, Brazil, Germany, Russia, and the United States”, Microsoft said.

Tim Burrell, Principal Engineering Manager, Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center, said that the new ransomware is a more sophisticated variant of Petya.

However, security firm Kaspersky Lab said that according to its analysis the new malware is significantly different from all earlier known versions of Petya, adding:

“That’s why we address it as a separate malware family. We’ve named it ExPetr (or NotPetya – unofficially).”

According to Blockchain.info, victims of this new malware have paid a little over $10,000 in total so far. This is relatively a small amount considering the global reach of the attack.

Business Insider reported that the malware displays a message to send $300 in bitcoin to a bitcoin wallet address. Victims were also instructed to send their bitcoin wallet ID and personal installation key to an email address. The operator behind this email address, Posteo has blocked access to that mailbox. In an official statement, the company stated (loosely translated):

“This afternoon we have been informed that ransomware blackmailers are currently providing a Posteo address as a contact option.

“Our abuse team checked this immediately – and immediately blocked the mailbox. We do not tolerate misuse of our platform: The immediate blocking of abused mailboxes is a usual procedure of providers in such cases. At the time of the blocking, there was no reporting on the Ransomware.”

According to Krebsonsecurity.com, the malware is spreading a vulnerability in Microsoft Windows that the tech titan patched in March 2017. This, in fact, is the same bug that was exploited by the WannaCry ransomware.

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