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The Sinkhole that saved the Internet
Techcrunch ^ | July 8, 2019 | Zack Whitterker

Posted on 07/11/2019 4:25:22 PM PDT by Innovative

It was late afternoon on May 12, 2017. Two exhausted security researchers could barely unpack the events of what had just happened.

Marcus Hutchins and Jamie Hankins, who were working from their homes in the U.K. for Los Angeles-based cybersecurity company Kryptos Logic, had just stopped a global cyberattack dead in its tracks. Hours earlier, WannaCry ransomware began to spread like wildfire, encrypting systems and crippling businesses and transport hubs across Europe. It was the first time in a decade a computer worm began attacking computers on a massive scale. The U.K.’s National Health Service (NHS) was one of the biggest organizations hit, forcing doctors to turn patients away and emergency rooms to close.

(Excerpt) Read more at techcrunch.com ...


TOPICS: Computers/Internet
KEYWORDS: infection; internet; virus; wannacry
Amazing work by these two guys.

Long article, but worth reading.

1 posted on 07/11/2019 4:25:22 PM PDT by Innovative
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To: Innovative

Read later.


2 posted on 07/11/2019 4:40:15 PM PDT by SES1066 (Happiness is a depressed Washington, DC housing market!)
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To: Innovative

This article is a sinkhole.


3 posted on 07/11/2019 4:41:49 PM PDT by Williams (Stop Tolerating The Intolerant.)
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To: Innovative

Why anyone would use anything from Microsoft after the numerous successful attacks on their software is beyond my comprehension.


4 posted on 07/11/2019 4:59:45 PM PDT by CarmichaelPatriot
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To: CarmichaelPatriot

Because MS software comes on most computers and it’s fairly easy to use.

I don’t think that is the real problem, but the many evil people are.

Some think that the attack they are talking about was by N. Korea.


5 posted on 07/11/2019 5:10:57 PM PDT by Innovative
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To: Williams

Quicksand.


6 posted on 07/11/2019 5:15:17 PM PDT by Fungi
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To: Williams
could barely unpack the events

Well, when it starts out rhetoric like that, it's a sign the article is likely to be a dumpster fire and hardly worth reading.

7 posted on 07/11/2019 5:18:53 PM PDT by Larry Lucido
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To: CarmichaelPatriot

I think a more pertinent question is why MSFT OS is so easy to crack. How should it even be possible that some loaded software could lock up the entire system, with no remedy?

I don’t honestly know how these blackmail viruses function, but long ago I separated all my data files to a separate physical disk from that of the OS. The OS and key programs are located on the boot drive. In theory one should be able to pull the boot drive for a clean new drive and reinstall the OS without losing data. And for me personally, I am not using cloud so I sync 2 computers with a 3rd portable drive which I also take with me for use on the laptop when I travel. In other words the data is in 3 separate physical locations. Though that is not practical for most home users, separating the OS drive from the “Documents” is fairly straightforward as I’m sure you know.

But I presume the targets of these ransomeware viruses are institutions. I don’t know which of them rely on MSFT OS. A lot of them run off specialized software from IBM, Oracle, etc. One would think they could segregate and back up the data separately from the OS and if someone were to fry the brains, it would be fairly straightforward to swap components without losing the data. Obviously many of the targets in government are incompetent that they had years of advance warning of these kinds of attacks and took no steps to inoculate themselves or have physical backups of data locked away. Just another reason why government services should be outsourced.


8 posted on 07/11/2019 5:55:23 PM PDT by monkeyshine
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To: Innovative

Interesting. Thanks.


9 posted on 07/11/2019 10:59:08 PM PDT by TChad
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