At least 16 hospitals in the United Kingdom are being forced to divert emergency patients today after computer systems there were infected with ransomware , a type of malicious software that encrypts a victim ’s documents , images , music and other files unless the victim pays for a key to unlock them . The ransomware is using an NSA exploit leaked by The Shadow Brokers , and has made tens of thousands of victims worldwide , including the Russian Interior Ministry , Chinese universities , Hungarian telcos , FedEx branches , and more . Cybersecurity firm Avast said it had identified more than 75,000 ransomware attacks in 99 countries , making it one of the broadest and most damaging cyberattacks in history . Avast said the majority of the attacks targeted Russia , Ukraine and Taiwan . But U.K. hospitals , Chinese universities and global firms like Fedex ( FDX ) also reported they had come under assault . ;