The Mirai malware, which was used to take down routers used by German network provider Deutsche Telecom, has spread to several parts of the globe. The botnet malware has reportedly spread to about 10 other countries.

Security firm Flashpoint reported that a new variant of the Mirai malware has been detected infecting routers and modems at several locations around the globe including the United Kingdom, Thailand, Iran, and Brazil.

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Experts are yet to pinpoint the exact scale of the attack, but Flashpoint estimates that as many as five million devices have been infected.

In a statement posted on the company's official blog, Flashpoint wrote, "If even a fraction of these vulnerable devices were compromised, they would add considerable power to an existing botnet."

The Mirai malware was at the center of the recent attack that crippled a portion of Deutsche Telekom's network causing Internet outages that affected close to a million users. The German telecommunications company have already released a software patch to repair affected routers. However, security experts claim that the perpetrators behind the attack will continue to upgrade Mirai's capabilities to stage more disruptive attacks.

According to Computer World, the new strain of Mirai affects routers manufactured by Zyxel. Early investigations claim that the hackers are trying to exploit a known flaw within the router's SOAP or Simple Object Access Protocol.

Previous versions of the Mirai malware are infamous for its speed in infecting poorly secured connected devices like DVRs and surveillance cameras. Affected devices are then programmed to be added into a botnet which has the capability of deploying massive DDoS attacks which can shut down websites and other web-based services. In October, the Mirai botnet was used to launch a massive DDoS attack that slowed, and on some parts completely crippled, Internet access across the United States.