It has since been confirmed that as many as 49 countries have been affected - from Spain to the US. It's an encryption-based ransomware that locks a computer unless money is paid to gain access.
PWC Cybersecurity partner Colin Slater said: "There's no evidence of data being taken from computers --this is purely a ransomware attack".
Mikko Hypponen, from tech firm F-Secure, called it "the biggest ransomware outbreak in history". "Even so, it's spreading fast, with organisations across Europe and Asia being hit", said Aatish Pattni from cyber security firm Check Point. Affected users can restore their files from backups, if they have them, or pay the ransom; otherwise they risk losing their data entirely.
According to the BBC, other organizations reportedly affected by the ransomware include power and natural gas companies in Spain, as well as a university in Italy.
The statement said there were thousands of cyberattacks daily "and Romania is no exception". The tool, which was leaked by a group known as Shadow Brokers, had been stolen from the N.S.A.as part of a wide swath of tools illegally released in 2016.
"Our analysis indicates the attack, dubbed "WannaCry", is initiated through an SMBv2 remote code execution in Microsoft Windows".
Microsoft has already patched the vulnerability, but only for newer Windows systems.
By Kaspersky Lab's count, the malware struck at least 74 countries.
A malware researcher at Avast reported on Twitter that there have been 36,000 detections of Wanna Decryptor globally including in Russia, Ukraine and Taiwan.
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"Ambulances are being diverted to neighbouring hospitals", it said.
Staff can not access patient data, which has been scrambled by ransomware.
She said the ministry's servers haven't been affected and added that ministry experts are now working to recover the system and do necessary security updates. "It's stressful enough for someone going through recovery or treatment for cancer".
"This is not targeted at the NHS, it's an worldwide attack and a number of countries and organisations have been affected", May said, referring to the country's National Health Service.
The statement added that the attack was not specifically targeted at the NHS and is affecting organisations from across a range of sectors.
"Once inside a network it seeks out and affects any susceptible computer it can find on the network", he said.
The ransomware used in the attack is believed to be Wanna Decryptor, malicious software which deletes files and replaces them with encrypted copies.
Krishna Chinthapalli, a registrar at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London, warned that British hospitals' old operating systems and store of confidential patient information made them an ideal target for blackmailers.
St Barts Health NHS Trust, which runs The Royal London, St Bartholomew's, Whipps Cross and Newham hospitals in London, said it had implemented its major incident plan to cope with disruption. "I did not expect an attack on this scale".
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