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The global ransomware attack that hit major corporations from shipping giant Maersk to the world’s biggest advertiser WPP, has affected over 12,000 machines, with companies and security researchers scrambling to find a fix.

Ransomware is a malicious piece of software that locks files on a computer and demands payments to unlock them. The files on the computers are not accessible and are therefore useless.

The current attack appears to be carried out by a variant of malware known as Petya. It’s a particular variation of Petya that some researchers have said they are seeing for the first time.

One security source, who preferred to remain anonymous because the investigation is in its early stages, told CNBC that many anti-virus programs didn’t recognize it and were unable to stop it.

read more at cnbc.com