Two firms working in the field of cybersecurity, found malicious software, which, in their opinion, was the reason for the power outage in Ukraine in December 2016.

Companies have warned that the virus can be easily modified and damage the work of critical infrastructure around the world.

The Slovak antivirus software developer ESET and the American company Dragos, dedicated to protecting critical infrastructure, published a detailed analysis of the virus known as Industroyer or Crash Override, and issued warnings to governments and infrastructure operators to help them protect themselves from the threat.

Companies say they do not know who is behind the attack in Ukraine, which accuses Russia. Officials in Moscow have repeatedly rejected these charges.

However, companies are warning of new attacks using the same approach that a group that created a malicious code can go to, or its imitators that can modify it.

"Malicious software can easily be redirected and forwarded to other objects. This, of course, is alarming, - said researcher from ESET Robert Lipowski in a telephone interview. "This can inflict massive damage on vital infrastructure systems".

Voice of America.