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(Reuters) - The Federal Bureau of Investigation warned U.S. businesses that hackers have used malicious software to launch a destructive cyberattack in the United States, following a devastating breach last week at Sony Pictures Entertainment.

Cybersecurity experts said the malicious software described in the alert appeared to describe the one that affected Sony, which would mark first major destructive cyber attack waged against a company on U.S. soil. Such attacks have been launched in Asia and the Middle East, but none have been reported in the United States. The FBI report did not say how many companies had been victims of destructive attacks.

“I believe the coordinated cyberattack with destructive payloads against a corporation in the U.S. represents a watershed event,” said Tom Kellermann, chief cybersecurity officer with security software maker Trend Micro Inc. “Geopolitics now serve as harbingers for destructive cyberattacks.”

The five-page, confidential “flash” FBI warning issued to businesses late on Monday provided some technical details about the malicious software used in the attack. It provided advice on how to respond to the malware and asked businesses to contact the FBI if they identified similar malware.

The report said the malware overrides all data on hard drives of computers, including the master boot record, which prevents them from booting up.

“The overwriting of the data files will make it extremely difficult and costly, if not impossible, to recover the data using standard forensic methods,” the report said.

The document was sent to security staff at some U.S. companies in an email that asked them not to share the information.

The FBI released the document in the wake of last Monday’s unprecedented attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment, which brought corporate email down for a week and crippled other systems as the company prepares to release several highly anticipated films during the crucial holiday film season.

A Sony spokeswoman said the company had “restored a number of important services” and was “working closely with law enforcement officials to investigate the matter.”

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Australia Dec 1 2014 Security guards are arming themselves with cameras to tackle violence and aggression at Footscray Hospital.

Western Health has credited the security cameras with a decrease in attacks by helping to deter potential offenders and capturing evidence if an incident unfolds.

Security services training and operations co-ordinator Trevor Lawson said many incidents had been successfully resolved since the guards began wearing the cameras on their shirts, because people understood their behaviour was being recorded.

He said the hospital had undergone a security review and had a designated, on-site training facility.

It comes as data reveals “code grey” alerts for aggressive and threatening behaviour are on track to decrease at the hospital.

There have been 755 incidents to October this year, compared with 1054 incidents last year.

Meanwhile, “code black”, serious threats, occurred six times in 2013, with five so far this year.

Neurosurgeon Dr Michael Wong is lucky to be alive after he was stabbed 14 times in the back, arms, hands, chest, legs, abdomen and head as he arrived for work at the hospital on February 18.

Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation Victorian secretary Lisa Fitzpatrick said the figures didn’t reflect the true magnitude of the problem as many nurses had given up reporting violence because nothing changed.

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