A new and potentially dangerous ransomware sample has been spotted infecting computers in the United States and at least nine other countries so far.

McAfee, the first to discover the emerging menace, has dubbed it Anatova, based on a name in the ransom note the malware leaves behind on infected systems.

In an advisory Tuesday, the security vendor described Anatova as having the potential to become a serious threat based on its obfuscation capabilities and ability to infect network shares. The malware also has a modular design, which allows attackers to add new malicious functions to it in the future.