A fast-growing global cyber attack that has struck computers across Europe and Asia has not affected any Australian organisation, the federal government says.
However, a US cyber security firm has named Australia as one of the many countries affected.
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Global cyber attack cripples British health service
There has been a major cyber attack on a number of organisations across the globe with Russia and Britain's health system appearing to be the worst affected. Vision courtesy ABC
The attack involves ransomware, a kind of malware that encrypts data and locks out the user. According to security experts, it exploits a vulnerability that was discovered and developed by the National Security Agency (NSA) in the US.
Attacks were being reported in Britain and 11 other countries, including Turkey, Vietnam, the Philippines, Japan, with the majority of affected computers in Russia. The computers all appeared to be infected with the same ransomware, and similar ransom messages demanding about $US300 to unlock their data.
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But a spokesman for Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said there were "no confirmed reports" of any Australian organisation being impacted by the ransomware.
He said the government was closely monitoring the situation.
"The Prime Minister's cyber security special adviser [Alistair MacGibbon] is working with the Australian Cyber Security Centre and health agencies ... to determine any impact to Australia," the spokesman said.
"The government takes cyber security very seriously.
"We are continuing to monitor the situation closely and stand ready to deal with any cyber security threat to Australia's critical infrastructure."