Cyber security experts reveal they have found a second massive computer virus which, like the WannaCry cyber attack last week, has affected hundreds of thousands of computers world-wide and may have North Korean origins.

Axar.az reports citing Euronews.

This second global hack exploits the same Microsoft vulnerabilities as the WannaCry attack and it is estimated to have infected more than 200,000 computers. The full scale of this attack, however, is still being determined due to the fact the attack is on-going.

Preliminary analysis by California-based cyber security firm Proofpoint, which revealed the existence of this more subtle virus, suggests “that this attack may be larger in scale than WannaCry”, the company said in an online statement.

Unlike last week’s attack which infected more than 300,000 computers since last Friday, this second cyber attack is thought to have begun either in late April or early May, but it had avoided being detected until recently, said Proofpoint researchers.

Computers infected by this second virus do not have their functions altered, nor are their files encrypted. Instead, they manufacture digital currency.

Proofpoint said the virus installs the Adylkuzz currency “miner” – a sort of malware which hijacks a computer’s processing power to solve complex math problems and earn digital money.