"The virus works like the WannaCry ransomware that attacked on a global scale on May 13," Rudiantara said on Wednesday, as quoted by kompas.com.

The virus could be transmitted through email attachments and hyperlinks to malware sites, he added.

(Read also: Quick action essential to deal with WannaCry ransomware)

He said the Communications and Information Ministry would keep monitoring the situation and mitigating the spread of the ransomware in Indonesia through its cybersecurity organization, id-SIRTI.

Rudiantara said id-SIRTI had issued notifications about possible attacks by the virus. "The notifications were sent to cooperating partners, such as internet service providers, NAP [Network Access Point], ministries and other institutions," he said.

Two hospitals, Dharmais and Harapan Kita, were attacked by ransomware WannaCry in May. The virus asked users for a ransom in exchange for restoring user files it had earlier encrypted. The US$300 ransom was payable through bitcoin. (yon/bbn)

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