Microsoft President Calls for 'Urgent Collective Action' After Major Cyberattack

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Brad Smith, the president and chief legal officer of the US technology giant Microsoft, considers that the recent cyberattacks, registered worldwide, should serve as an alarm signal for different governments, which should take urgent actions to maintain cybersecurity.

"The governments of the world should treat this attack as a wake-up call. They need to take a different approach and adhere in cyberspace to the same rules applied to weapons in the physical world. We need governments to consider the damage to civilians that comes from hoarding these vulnerabilities and the use of these exploits," Smith said on his blog on Sunday.

On Friday, the Kaspersky Lab IT company registered about 45,000 ransomware attacks in 74 countries worldwide, with the largest number of targets in Russia. The company reported that the attack was carried out with the use of ransomware dubbed WannaCry. The malicious software has reportedly infected computers in up to a hundred countries and tried to extort users' money.

"We should take from this recent attack a renewed determination for more urgent collective action. We need the tech sector, customers, and governments to work together to protect against cybersecurity attacks. More action is needed, and it’s needed now," Smith said adding that "Microsoft is committed to doing its part."

On Sunday, Europol Executive Director Rob Wainwright said that the global cyberattack may continue on Monday. According to Wainwright, the attack affected 200,000 users in 150 countries, including businesses and large corporations.

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