The Microsoft logo hangs on the facade of an office building in Munich. Security experts at Microsoft have discovered malware on dozens of government computers in Ukraine that could render them unusable, the US tech giant said.

Axar.az reports that security experts at Microsoft have discovered malware on dozens of government computers in Ukraine that could render them unusable, the US tech giant said.

Although the malware disguised itself as a blackmail programme, its true purpose was to be able to destroy data on the command of hackers, Microsoft said on Saturday.

In light of the Russian troop deployment on the border with Ukraine, the discovery of software that could disable government computers is a worrying development for Kyiv.

Microsoft's experts did not comment on the possible origin of the threat, however.

"At this time, we have not identified notable overlap between the unique characteristics of the group behind these attacks and groups we’ve traditionally tracked, but we continue to analyze the activity," Microsoft Vice President Tom Burt said on a company blog.

The software was found on the computers of government agencies and IT specialists. Microsoft said it assumed the malware could also be lying dormant undetected on other computers.