In China, 18,000 IP addresses attacked, and universities among the hardest hit TOKYO - Global cyber chaos was spreading on Monday as companies booted up computers at work following the weekend's worldwide ransomware cyberattack. The extortion scheme created chaos in 150 countries and could wreak even greater havoc as more malicious variations appear. The initial attack, known as "WannaCry", paralyzed computers running the United Kingdom's hospital network, Germany's national railway and scores of other companies and government agencies around the world. As a loose global network of cybersecurity experts fought the ransomware hackers, Chinese media said 29,372 institutions had been infected along with hundreds of thousands of devices. The Japan Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Center, a nonprofit providing support for computer attacks, said 2,000 computers at 600 locations in Japan were reported affected so far. Government agencies said they were unaffected. Companies such as Hitachi and Nissan Motor reported problems they said had not seriously affected their business operations. In China, about 18,000 IP addresses in China have been confirmed as infected with the "WannaCry" ransomware. Universities and other educational institutions were among the hardest hit, Xinhua reported. That may be because schools tend to have old computers and be slow about updates of operating systems and security, said Fang Xingdong, founder of ChinaLabs, an internet strategy think tank. Railway stations, mail delivery, gas stations, hospitals, office buildings, shopping malls and government services also were affected, Xinhua said, citing Qihoo 360, a Chinese internet security services company. But the spread of the ransomware is ongoing, but is slowing down, the Cyberspace Administration of China said in a statement. Elsewhere in Asia, officials in Japan and the Republic of Korea said they believed security updates had helped ward off the worst of the impact. The most public damage in the ROK was to cinema chain CJ CGV Co. It was restoring its advertising servers at dozens of theaters after the attack left the company unable to display trailers of upcoming movies. The attack was disrupting computers that run factories, banks, government agencies and transport systems in scores of countries, including Russia, Ukraine, Brazil, Spain, India and Japan, among others. Russia's Interior Ministry and companies including Spain's Telefonica, FedEx in the United States and French carmaker Renault all reported troubles. Experts were urging organizations and companies to immediately update older Microsoft operating systems, such as Windows XP, with a patch released by Microsoft to limit vulnerability to a more powerful version of the malware or to future versions that can't be stopped. Paying the ransom will not ensure any fix, said Eiichi Moriya, a cybersecurity expert and professor at Meiji University. "You are dealing with a criminal," he said. "It's like after a robber enters your home. You can change the locks but what has happened cannot be undone. If someone kidnaps your child, you may pay your ransom but there is no guarantee your child will return." Xinhua-AP-AFP-Reuters design your own wristbandadjustable wristbandsrubber bracelets custom cheapmake rubber bracelets
Rescue teams clean up an area that was buried by a mudslide in Puge, Sichuan province, on Tuesday. The slide had claimed 24 lives as of Tuesday night. In Gansu province, slides were responsible for at least seven deaths. [Photo/Xinhua] Two mudslides killed at least 31 people, with four still missing, on Tuesday after downpours in two provinces, authorities said. Rainfall from Monday to Tuesday caused slides in Gengdi village of Puge county, Sichuan province. As of 6 pm Tuesday, rescuers had saved one person from the debris, but 24 were found dead. Four people were injured and one other remained missing, according to the local government. The mountain floods also damaged 5 kilometers of road and five bridges, and inundated about 12 hectares of farmland. Direct economic losses from the disaster, which affected 577 people from 157 households, was estimated to be 160 million yuan ($23.5 million), it said. The Sichuan weather observatory said more heavy rainfall is expected in some areas of the province, which may lead to more disasters. In Gansu province, downpours from Sunday evening to Monday morning triggered mudslides in three townships in Wenxian county. Some houses were swept away, and water and power supplies, telecommunications and traffic in some villages were disrupted, local authorities said in a statement. Rescuers have found seven bodies. Two people were still missing, while nearly 1,000 had been transferred to safe areas as of Tuesday morning, it said. Zhang Jiatuan, spokesman for the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters, said in late June that casualties from mountain flood disasters, including mudslides, had been reduced substantially thanks to the national warning system set up by the government. From 2010 to 2016, China developed monitoring and warning systems for mountain flood disasters in 2,058 counties, he said. Around 1,300 people per year, on average, died in mountain flood disasters from 2006 to 2010. After the warning system was developed, the average annual death toll decreased to 400(2011-15). About 75,000 precipitation and water-level monitoring stations have been established, and more than 1.4 million alarm facilities have been put into operation, he said. He added, however, that some of the facilities had been damaged in natural disasters and needed to be replaced. Moreover, the system doesn't yet cover all villages. In some areas, local governments are short of funds to maintain these facilities, he said.
