Washington publicly blamed Pyongyang for unleashing the so-called WannaCry cyber attack which caused massive disruptions earlier this year through a computer virus that affected more than 300,000 computers in over 150 countries.
“The attack was widespread and cost billions, and North Korea is directly responsible. 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,” Tom Bossert, homeland security adviser to President Donald Trump, wrote for the Wall Street Journal.
An unnamed administration official confirmed that the White House plans to follow up with a more formal statement blaming Pyongyang, Reuters reported. The official said that according to the U.S. government, the hacking entity known as Lazarus Group, which works on behalf of the North Korean government, carried out the attack. The Lazarus Group is considered to be responsible for the 2014 hack of Sony Pictures Entertainment.
According to the official, Washington’s condemnation does not include indictments or name individuals. The anonymous official says that the shaming was designed to hold Pyongyang accountable for its actions and undercut its ability for new attacks. Pyongyang has denied responsibility for WannaCry.
Thousands of British patients had to reschedule appointments after WannaCry knocked British hospitals offline. The cyber attack also disrupted infrastructure and businesses around the world. Even though it originally looked like a ransomware campaign, where hackers encrypt a targeted computer and demand payment to recover files, experts later concluded the ransom threat may have been a distraction intended to disguise a more destructive intent. According to some researchers, Pyongyang deployed WannaCry accidentally as hackers were developing the code.
WannaCry was made possible by a flaw in Microsoft’s Windows software, discovered by the National Security Agency and used by it to build a hacking tool for its own use. The Shadow Brokers published that tool online.
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