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Agence France-Presse

Reuters

The United States has officially accused North Korea of carrying out the massive WannaCry attack that infected some 300,000 computers in 150 countries earlier this year.
North Korea was widely suspected of being behind the computer virus and ransomware, which demanded payment to restore access. It has been denounced as such by Britain, but the United States had yet to follow suit.
Homeland Security Advisor Tom Bossert made the announcement in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, and was expected to provide more details in a briefing with reporters early Tuesday.
“The attack was widespread and cost billions, and North Korea is directly responsible,” he wrote.
“We do not make this allegation lightly. It is based on evidence.”
Bossert said Facebook and Microsoft helped in thwarting the North Korean attacks.
“Facebook took down accounts that stopped the operational execution of ongoing cyber attacks and Microsoft acted to patch existing attacks, not just the WannaCry attack initially,” White House homeland security adviser Tom Bossert said on Tuesday.
Bossert did not provide details on the actions by the two American tech heavyweights but said the US government was calling on other companies to cooperate in cyber security defence.

“North Korea has acted especially badly, largely unchecked, for more than a decade, and its malicious behavior is growing more egregious. WannaCry was indiscriminately reckless.”
He said Washington must lead efforts to cooperate with other governments and businesses to “mitigate cyber risk and increase the cost to hackers,” and thus improve internet security and resilience.
Among the infected computers were those at Britain’s National Health Service (NHS), Spanish telecoms company Telefonica and US logistics company FedEx.
“These disruptions put lives at risk,” Bossert wrote.
Hacker who stopped WannaCry cyberattack arrested in US
“When we must, the US will act alone to impose costs and consequences for cyber malfeasance,” Bossert added.
US President Donald Trump “has already pulled many levers of pressure to address North Korea’s unacceptable nuclear and missile developments, and we will continue to use our maximum pressure strategy to curb Pyongyang’s ability to mount attacks, cyber or otherwise.”
Watch: IT expert who cracked virus says he’s no hero


The WannaCry attack spread rapidly around the globe using a security flaw in Microsoft’s Windows XP operating system, an older version that is no longer given mainstream tech support by the US giant.
Ransomware, which can be used on PCs as well as tablets and smartphones, is malicious software which locks computer files and forces users to pay the attackers a designated sum in the virtual bitcoin currency to regain access to the files.
The Washington Post cited a US official as saying Trump’s administration would be urging allies to counter North Korea’s cyberattack capabilities and implement all “relevant” UN Security Council sanctions.
It said the CIA had already laid blame on North Korea for the attack in November, though the assessment was classified and had not yet been previously reported.


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Computer hackers

US declares North Korea was behind huge WannaCry cyberattack

A screenshot shows a WannaCry ransomware demand, provided by cybersecurity firm Symantec. File photo: Reuters

FILE PHOTO: White House Homeland Security Advisor Tom Bossert speaks to reporters about the global WannaCry "ransomware" cyber attack, prior to the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S. May 15, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo

The rise of ransomware: how data extortion became the biggest thing in cybercrime

A laptop screen displays a message after it was infected with ransomware during a worldwide cyberattack, in Geldrop, the Netherlands, on Tuesday. Photo: EPA

epa05965970 A source code on a computer in Taipei, Taiwan, 13 May 2017 (issued 15 May 2017). According to news reports, Cyber security firm TREND Micro warned that there will be more victims of ransomware 'WannaCry' on Monday when government offices, financial institutions and schools open, and this cyber attack can possible target smartphones. TREND also identified two malwares - Snake and Proton - which can hit Apple's Macintosh users by stealing data, monitor PC operation and log keys strokes. EPA/RITCHIE B. TONGO

A photo taken on May 15, 2017 shows staff monitoring the spread of ransomware cyber-attacks at the Korea Internet and Security Agency (KISA) in Seoul More cyberattacks could be in the pipeline after the global havoc caused by the Wannacry ransomware, a South Korean cybersecurity expert warned May 16 as fingers pointed at the North. More than 200,000 computers in 150 countries were hit by the ransom cyberattack, described as the largest ever of its kind, over the weekend. / AFP PHOTO / YONHAP / YONHAP / REPUBLIC OF KOREA OUT NO ARCHIVES RESTRICTED TO SUBSCRIPTION USE

Chinese cybersecurity firm claims to have developed WannaCry virus ‘vaccine’

A warning screen from a purported ransomware attack photographed by a computer user in Taiwan on May 14. Photo: AP

epa05960672 A programer shows a sample of decrypting source code in Taipei, Taiwan, 13 May, 2017. According to news reports, a 'WannaCry' ransomware cyber attack hits thousands of computers in 99 countries encrypting files from affected computer units and demanding 300 US dollars through bitcoin to decrypt the files. EPA/RITCHIE B. TONGO

(FILES) The National Security Agency (NSA) is shown in this May 31, 2006, aerial file photo in Fort Meade, Maryland. Police opened fire and one suspect died March 30, 2015 after a car tried to ram its way into the headquarters of US National Security Agency, America's electronic eavesdropper. One police officer and a second suspect were hurt in the incident, the NSA's director for strategic communications Jonathan Freed said. It was not immediately clear whether the suspects were shot or wounded when their car crashed into a police security vehicle. An FBI spokeswoman said the incident at Fort Meade, the spy agency's super-secure base in suburban Maryland outside Washington, was not believed to be "related to terrorism." AFP Photo/Paul J. Richards/FILES

FILE - This April 12, 2016 file photo shows the Microsoft logo in Issy-les-Moulineaux, outside Paris, France. The cyberextortion attack hitting dozens of countries was a "perfect storm" of sorts. It combined a known and highly dangerous security hole in Microsoft Windows, tardy users who didn't apply Microsoft's March software fix, and a software design that allowed the malware to spread quickly once inside university, business and government networks. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)

The next ransomware attack will likely be worse than WannaCry warns security tech and author

A lock screen from the WannaCry cyberattack. Photo: Bloomberg

EEY76J Smart refrigerator with internet of things connectivity touchpad and ice maker and water purifier in modern kitchen

Computer chips sit on a mother board inside a communications room at an office in London, U.K., on Monday, May 15, 2017. Governments and companies around the world began to gain the upper hand against the first wave of an unrivaled global cyberattack, even as the assault was poised to continue claiming victims this week. Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg

F5GJRN Smart tv and hand pressing remote control

A hooded man holds a laptop computer as cyber code is projected on him in this illustration picture taken on May 13, 2017. Capitalizing on spying tools believed to have been developed by the U.S. National Security Agency, hackers staged a cyber assault with a self-spreading malware that has infected tens of thousands of computers in nearly 100 countries. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/Illustration TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

A computer running a Windows Server is seen connected into a network server in an office building in Washington, DC on May 13, 2017. International investigators hunted on May 13 for those behind an unprecedented cyber-attack that affected systems in dozens of countries, including at banks, hospitals and government agencies, as security experts sought to contain the fallout. The assault, which began Friday and was being described as the biggest-ever cyber ransom attack, struck state agencies and major companies around the world -- from Russian banks and British hospitals to FedEx and European car factories. / AFP PHOTO / Andrew CABALLERO-REYNOLDS

Hacker who stopped WannaCry cyberattack arrested in US

Marcus Hutchins, digital security researcher for Kryptos Logic, works on a computer in his bedroom in Ilfracombe, UK. Credited with stopping a global cyberattack, he was arrested in Las Vegas for creating malware that would grab the passwords of bank accounts. Photo: Bloomberg

Marcus Hutchins, digital security researcher for Kryptos Logic, poses for a photograph in front of his computer in his bedroom in Ilfracombe, U.K., on Tuesday, July 4, 2017. Hutchins, the 23-year-old who saved the world from a devastating cyberattack in May was asleep in his bed in the English seaside town of Ilfracombe last week after a night of partying when another online extortion campaign spread across the globe. Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg

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The attack originally looked like a ransomware campaign. Some experts later concluded the ransom threat may have been a distraction intended to disguise a more destructive intent


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