If you remember the WannaCry ransomware attack that infected nearly 300,000 computers in more than 150 countries affecting many of the critical institutions, banks, companies and hospitals in may this year, the US has declared the perpetrator of the attack. The It turns out that North Korea is accountable for the devastating WannaCry ransom attack according to the US.
President Donald Trump’s Homeland Security Advisor, Thomas Bossert has made an announcement that North Korea is directly responsible for the WannaCry ransomware attack in the form of an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal. An official announcement will be made by the White House on Tuesday.
According to a report back in June, the US National Security Agency had an evidence in possession which pointed to North Korea. Now, Bossert publicly asserts that the NSA has proper evidence along with supportive proofs from foreign governments, independent cybersecurity firms, and corporations directly affected by the attack.
“We do not make this allegation lightly. It is based on evidence. We are not alone with our findings, either. Other governments and private companies agree. The United Kingdom attributes the attack to North Korea, and Microsoft traced the attack to cyber affiliates of the North Korean government,” Bossert writes. “The consequences and repercussions of WannaCry were beyond economic. The malicious software hit computers in the UK’s health-care sector particularly hard, compromising systems that perform critical work. These disruptions put lives at risk.”
After much analysis, the U.S. government assesses that the Lazarus Group, a hacking entity that works for the North Korean government is responsible for carrying out the WannaCry attack, an anonymous official told Reuters. The Lazarus Group is ill-famed for the 2014 hack of Sony Pictures Entertainment that destroyed files, leaked corporate communications online, running an email campaign to infect the systems of cryptocurrency industry insiders and steal bitcoins.
Currently, the North Korean government representatives aren’t available for any comment but the country has denied the allegations about the responsibility for cyber attacks and called the accusations as a smear campaign.
