North Korea 'was behind huge WannaCry cyber-attack' that crippled the NHS and caused chaos across the world

A minister has claimed North Korea was behind the cyber-attack that crippled the NHS.

Home Office Minister Ben Wallace said the Government believed "quite strongly" that a foreign state was behind the ransomware attack and named North Korea.

Pyongyang has been widely blamed for the May cyber-attack in security circles, and Microsoft's president, Brad Smith, has also pointed the finger at Kim Jong-un's secretive state.

Mr Wallace said: "This attack, we believe quite strongly that it came from a foreign state.

"North Korea was the state that we believe was involved this worldwide attack."

A screenshot showing the WannaCry ransomware demand (Image: REUTERS)

Security minister Ben Wallace pointed the finger at North Korea (Image: REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett)

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that "we can be as sure as possible" and "it is widely believed in the community and across a number of countries that North Korea had taken this role".

Mr Wallace suggested the attack could have been motivated by an attempt by the economically isolated state to access foreign funds.

"North Korea has been potentially linked to other attacks about raising foreign currency," he said.

There were 47 NHS trusts it by the attack that sent computer systems into meltdown.

It affected more than 200,000 computers in 150 countries using 27 languages.