Petya cyber attack: Ransomware spreads across Europe with firms in Ukraine, Britain and Spain shut down

Major firms, airports and government departments in Ukraine have been struck by a massive cyber attack which began to spread across Europe on Tuesday afternoon. 

In Ukraine, government departments, the central bank, a state-run aircraft manufacturer,  the airport in Kiev and  the metro network have all been paralysed by the hack.

In the UK, the advertising firm WPP said its systems had also been struck down, while in the Netherlands a major shipping firm confirmed its computer terminals were malfunctioning. 

The virus is believed to be ransomware - a piece of malicious software that shuts down



a computer system and then demands an extortionate sum of money to fix the problem. 

It comes just a few weeks after the WannaCry hack which affected more than 150 countries and crippled parts of the NHS. 

American and British analysts believe that attack, which unfolded in May, was carried out by North Korea. It remains unclear who is responsible for Tuesday's attack. 

"The National Bank of Ukraine has warned banks... about an external hacker attack on the websites of some Ukrainian banks... which was carried out today," Ukraine's central bank said in a statement.