Boeing said on Wednesday that it was hit by a cyberattack that some Boeing executives identified as the same WannaCry computer virus that struck thousands of computer systems in more than 70 countries around the world last year.

In an internal memo, Mike VanderWel, chief engineer of Boeing Commercial Airplane production engineering, said the attack was “metastasizing” and he worried it could spread to Boeing’s production systems and airline software.

“We are on a call with just about every VP in Boeing,” Mr. VanderWel wrote. The memo called for “All hands on deck.”

WannaCry is a particularly vicious form of what is known as ransomware — malware that locks up victims’ computers and data with encryption, until attackers’ extortion demands are met, often in the form of the virtual currency Bitcoin. Even for victims who agree to pay, decryption is not always guaranteed. The City of Atlanta was hit with a different form of ransomware last week and was still reeling from the fallout on Wednesday.