Computers across 150+ countries have been hit by an unprecedented mass ransomware attack on Friday. It affected companies like FedEx, Renault and Britain’s National Health Service and also brought down operations for 16 of the U.K. National Health Service’s facilities.
Worldwide Ransomware Attack Some New Developments
1. Ransomware Variant Exploits A Vulnerability Discovered And Developed By The U.S. National Security Agency
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According to the report by the security experts, the ransomware attack exploits a vulnerability discovered and developed by the U.S. National Security Agency. Shadow Brokers, a group that regularly posts stolen software and hacking tools developed by the U.S. government released the tool online last month, according to the New York Times.
2. Patch For vulnerability
Many of the organizations, also including hospitals did not update their systems appropriately. In fact, according to the New York Time Microsoft had created a patch for the vulnerability.
3. U.S. Government Blamed
The president and chief legal officer of Microsoft, Brad Smith, blamed the U.S. Government in a blog post on Sunday. In the post he said the U.S. Government did not work adequately with technology companies to address software vulnerabilities.
Smith wrote – “This attack provides yet another example of why the stockpiling of vulnerabilities by governments is such a problem,” he added “Repeatedly, exploits in the hands of governments have leaked into the public domain and caused widespread damage.”
4. Ransomware Attack On Global Scale
- Reuters Report – Initial evidence displays infections in at least 14 countries. Since then it was discovered by the security experts that ransomware infected more than 200,000 computers in more than 150 countries.
- Forbes Report – according to Forbes 1,600 U.S. organizations have been infected with the ransomware, including FedEx, Renault and Britain’s National Health Service.
5. Culprits Already Bagged $32,500
Once the ransomware entered the PC, every affected organization got a similar message. The message requested them to pay $300 in bitcoin to unencrypt their files. as of 7 a.m. EDT on Sunday the attacks already received roughly $32,500 in bitcoin.
6. The “Kill Switch”
The estimates were expected to increase even further by the Security experts. But, a U.K. based 22-year-old security researcher ( MalwareTech ) discovered a “kill switch” in the software’s code. The researcher told BBC “It was actually partly accidental.” He observed the ransomware contacted a single web address while infecting its targets, he registered it for $10.69 and “unexpectedly triggered part of the ransomware’s code that told it to stop spreading,” he said.
Despite the fact that MalwareTech’s fix has stopped the ransomware from spreading to new devices. It still doesn’t have any fic to help those who are already affected.
Date: 16 May, 2017