WannaCry was most Americans’ first experience of ransomware
Although ransomware in some form has been around since 2005, a new survey of 5,000 US consumers reveals that for 57 percent the recent WannaCry attack was their first exposure to how it works.
The study by endpoint security company Carbon Black also shows that seven out of 10 consumers would consider leaving a business if it were hit by ransomware.
Samba vulnerability could lead to the next WannaCry
A security vulnerability in the popular Samba networking utility could leave unpatched machines open to an attack similar to WannaCry. A single line of code is all that’s needed to exploit the vulnerability, but it is reliant on a number of prerequisites.
The vulnerability has been assigned the ID CVE-2017-7494 and is described as "remote code execution from a writable share" which could allow "malicious clients [to] upload and cause the smbd server to execute a shared library from a writable share." Security researchers say that the flaw is very easy to exploit, and tens of thousands of machines have been found to be running versions of Samba for which a patch does not exist.
Symantec pins WannaCry on North Korean Lazarus group
There have already been suggestions that the now infamous WannaCry ransomware was the work of the North Korean hacking group Lazarus. Security firm Symantec now says it is "highly likely" that Lazarus is to blame, having unearthed further evidence of the re-use of code from other attacks by the group.
But while the links to Lazarus are strong, North Korea denies that it was involved in any sort of state-sponsored attack, dismissing such claims as "a dirty and despicable smear campaign." It is thought that the group -- also responsible for attacking Sony Pictures and stealing $81 million from the Bangladesh Central Bank -- operated independently for personal gain.
It's Windows 7 -- not Windows XP -- that's to blame for the spread of WannaCry ransomware
It’s been a week since the WannaCrypt/WannaCry ransomware cyber attacks began, and the repercussions are still being felt. It became clear quite early on that the ransomware was hitting older Windows systems hard (Windows 10 wasn’t affected), with a lot of talk focusing on the number of at-risk Windows XP systems still in service.
But here’s the interesting thing. Most of the affected systems -- over 98 percent -- were actually running Windows 7.
After WannaCry chaos, ShadowBrokers threaten 'Data Dump of the Month' service, including Windows 10 exploits
News over the past week has been dominated by the fallout from the WannaCry ransomware. Now the hacking group that released the NSA's hacking tool kit into the wild has announced plans to start an exploit subscription service in June.
ShadowBrokers used a blog post to announce that next month will see the launch of "TheShadowBrokers Data Dump of the Month" service. Described as "being like wine of month club," such a subscription service would attract a great deal of interest from intelligence agencies and would-be hackers alike, particularly if -- as the group suggests -- it includes access to Windows 10 exploits.
Watch how much money WannaCry generates in ransom -- in near real time
The WannaCry/WannaCrypt ransomware attack has hit businesses and individuals hard. It has now infected and locked over 300,000 computers across more than 150 countries.
It’s the most successful -- and damaging -- cyber attack in years, despite being rather poorly executed. If you’ve wondered how much money such an attack generates we have the answer -- and it’s not as much as you might think, given the scale.
Is WannaCry linked to the Lazarus Group?
As last Friday's WannaCry (WannaCrypt) ransomware attack continues to cause ripples around the globe, links have emerged between the malware code and the infamous Lazarus Group.
Lazarus is the group responsible for attacks on the Bangladesh Central Bank last year, Sony Pictures Entertainment in 2014, and more financial attacks in at least 18 countries.
Symantec successfully blocks more than 21 million 'WannaCrypt' ransomware attempts
The 'WannaCrypt' ransomware has been a worldwide dilemma, impacting many countries. Luckily, the malware only impacts older versions of Microsoft's operating system -- Windows 10 is not vulnerable. Also immune to WannaCrypt is macOS and Linux distributions. Unfortunately, many people run older versions of Windows, but Microsoft has been very active in issuing patches for them -- including for the now-unsupported XP.
Patches aside, security software can protect vulnerable computers too. In fact, today, Symantec announces that it has successfully blocked almost 22 million WannaCrypt attacks. The company even leveraged machine learning in its fight against the ransomware.
Vladimir Putin says the WannaCrypt cyber-attack is nothing to do with Russia
With Russia being blamed for having a hand in fixing both the US and French elections, Russian President Vladimir Putin must be feeling at least a little smug that the WannaCrypt ransomware currently wreaking havoc around the world has nothing to do with his country.
Asked about the threat while at an international summit in Beijing, Putin said it was "worrisome" but that the United States, not Russia, was to blame.
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