Liverpool's Champions League final with Real Madrid in Kiev could be disrupted by Russian cyber attackers, Ukrainian officials have warned.

“Security Service experts believe that the infection of hardware on the territory of Ukraine is preparation for another act of cyber-aggression by the Russian Federation, aimed at destabilising the situation during the Champions League final,” the Ukrainian security services said in a statement.

As Ukrainian authorities issued their warning, Cisco Systems announced that its cybersecurity unit Talos had uncovered a malware attack affecting some 500,000 routers.

The malware system known as “VPNFilter” shared code with versions of a separate cyber weapon that was behind multiple large-scale attacks in Ukraine, Talos said, and VPNFilter has been “actively infecting Ukrainian hosts at an alarming rate”. Infections spiked this month, and almost all of the new victims were located in Ukraine.

While the bulletin from Talos did not explicitly mention Russia, it said the malware was likely being deployed by “state-sponsored or state-affiliated” actors. Cisco researcher Craig Williams told Reuters he had “high confidence” the Russia government was behind the attacks.

The threat extends beyond Ukraine, Talos said, with devices estimated to have been infected in 54 different countries.

Liverpool's route to the Champions League final Show all 14 1 /14 Liverpool's route to the Champions League final Liverpool's route to the Champions League final Play-offs First leg: Hoffenheim 1-2 Liverpool (Uth 87; Alexander-Arnold 35, Nordtveit 74og) Liverpool FC via Getty Images Liverpool's route to the Champions League final Play-offs Second leg: Liverpool 4-2 Hoffenheim (Can 10, 21, Salah 18, Firmino 63; Uth 28, Wagner 79) AFP/Getty Images Liverpool's route to the Champions League final Group stages: Matchday one Liverpool 2-2 Sevilla (Firmino 21, Salah 37; Ben Yedder 5, Correa 72) AFP/Getty Images Liverpool's route to the Champions League final Group stages: Matchday two Spartak Moskva 1-1 Liverpool (Fernando 23; Coutinho 31) AFP/Getty Images Liverpool's route to the Champions League final Group stages: Matchday three Maribor 0-7 Liverpool (Firmino 4, 54, Coutinho 13, Salah 19, 40, Oxlade-Chamberlain 86, Alexander-Arnold 90) AFP/Getty Images Liverpool's route to the Champions League final Group stages: Matchday four Liverpool 3-0 Maribor (Salah 49, Can 64, Sturridge 90) Liverpool FC via Getty Images Liverpool's route to the Champions League final Group stages: Matchday five Sevilla 3-3 Liverpool (Ben Yedder 51, 60pen, Pizarro 90+3; Firmino 2, 30, Mané 22) Getty Images Liverpool's route to the Champions League final Group stages: Matchday six Liverpool 7-0 Spartak Moskva (Coutinho 4pen, 15 50, Firmino 19, Mané 47, 76, Salah 86) Liverpool FC via Getty Images Liverpool's route to the Champions League final Round of 16: First leg Porto 0-5 Liverpool (Mané 25, 53, 85, Salah 29, Firmino 69) Getty Images Liverpool's route to the Champions League final Round of 16: Second leg Liverpool 0-0 Porto Liverpool FC via Getty Images Liverpool's route to the Champions League final Quarter-finals: First leg Liverpool 3-0 Manchester City (Salah 12, Oxlade-Chamberlain 21, Mané 31) Getty Images Liverpool's route to the Champions League final Quarter-finals: Second leg Manchester City 1-2 Liverpool (Jesus 2; Salah 56, Firmino 81) Liverpool FC via Getty Images Liverpool's route to the Champions League final Semi-finals: First leg Liverpool 5-2 Roma (Salah 36, 45+1, Mané 56, Firmino 61, 69; Džeko 81, Perotti 85pen) Getty Images Liverpool's route to the Champions League final Semi-finals: Second leg Roma 4-2 Liverpool (Milner 15og, Džeko 52, Nainggolan 86, 90+4pen; Mané 9, Wijnaldum 25) Liverpool FC via Getty Images

But the possibility of an assault on Ukrainian devices coinciding with a globally watched football match could have broad implications.

A conflict between Ukraine and Russian-backed separatists has been smouldering for years and led Russia to annex the Crimea, which was formerly part of Ukrainian territory.

1 in 6 children now living in areas affected by conflict: 9-year-old Denis from Eastern Ukraine tells of home being bombed

American intelligence officials have concluded that Kremlin-directed hacking formed part of a broad Russian effort to influence the 2016 presidential election, and they have warned that Russia is likely to target upcoming midterm elections as well.