TAIPEI (Taiwan News) -- A global spate of ransomware cyber attacks hit companies and government organizations in scores of countries on Saturday, with Taiwan among the top targets.

Cybersecurity firm Avast said it has tracked more than 75,000 attacks in 99 countries, while Russia, Ukraine, and Taiwan were the worst hit by malware called WannaCry or WannaCry 2, Jakub Kroustek.

The ransomware locks down all the files on an infected computer and demands payment in bitcoin in order to regain control of them, according to reports.

Firms such as Telefónica, Spain’s leading telecom company, FedEx, an American multinational courier delivery services company, and Sixteen National Health Service (NHS) hospitals across England, were among the targets by the malware.

Taiwan is among world's countries most frequently targeted by ransomware attacks, over 2 million ransomware attacks have been detected in Taiwan in the first half of 2016.

As of Saturday afternoon, there have been no incidents of ransomware infection involving government agencies and hospitals in Taiwan, the Executive Yuan said.