Posted on 05/12/2017 7:27:01 PM PDT by Innovative
Hackers exploiting malicious software stolen from the National Security Agency executed damaging cyberattacks on Friday that hit dozens of countries worldwide, forcing Britain’s public health system to send patients away, freezing computers at Russia’s Interior Ministry and wreaking havoc on tens of thousands of computers elsewhere.
The attacks amounted to an audacious global blackmail attempt spread by the internet and underscored the vulnerabilities of the digital age.
Transmitted via email, the malicious software locked British hospitals out of their computer systems and demanded ransom before users could be let back in — with a threat that data would be destroyed if the demands were not met.
By late Friday the attacks had spread to more than 74 countries, according to security firms tracking the spread. Kaspersky Lab, a Russian cybersecurity firm, said Russia was the worst-hit, followed by Ukraine, India and Taiwan. Reports of attacks also came from Latin America and Africa.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I see this case as akin to the parent who owns the very most dangerous guns in the world IN A NURSERY, and doesn’t lock up ANY of his guns.
Should that parent own guns..?
Stolen NSA tool? Hardly!!!
Given, “it will be on server xyz, here is the password, leave me out of it, my boss says we need to take Trump down and this helps create chaos to hurt him, just leave me out of it, right?”
That is the more likely scenario.
See also:
FedEx hit as NSA-linked ransomware spreads around the world
http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/05/12/fedex-hit-as-nsa-linked-ransomware-spreads-around-the-world/
I think you may have hit the nail on the head, as indeed the most likely scenario.
The NSA tools were stolen on Obama’s watch.
The more they try to fake any other source the more they crumble.
The damages should be paid from the black budget.
The black budget from an intel community which has NO PROBLEM investigating a Prez Candidate.
So the Windows patch to prevent this has been available for 2 months, and many large organizations such as the UK’s NHS have not bothered to update their security???? I am understanding this correctly?
This seems like IT malfeasance and incompetence of an extraordinary degree. I can understand that random individual users may not keep on top of their security updates, but how can multi-billion dollar (or pound) organizations not maintain the most elementary forms of computer security????
Heads should roll....
good post, agree.
Likely? I dunno, but DEFINATELY possible, yup.
Well, the UK NIH is on Windows XP still.
This patch is only a step in what this HACK is, and it seems to be something the CIA/FBI let remain, so they could exploit it, when they were supposed to find a cure. If not, then I have two things mixed up.
NSA was using this to spy on people. I closed my computer to any access from outside, and backed up everything. I also have TOR, to use now instead of Windows 10. Not sure how secure anything is anymore!
oooh, so it’s no longer supported by MSFT updates? Wow, seems like they should have gotten onto a more secure OS, although I do hate how MSFT forces people to “upgrade” whether they want to or not.... I did like Windows 7, though. I’m on Windows 10 now with my laptop, and my security seems all up to date, but I’m no techie, I hope there’s nothing I’m missing......
TOR is an operating system?
1. Find Hackers and Shoot
2. Dismantle the NSA/CIA/FBI and only keep the things we only absolutely need.
I miss my DOS 6.2 :/
Reminds me of back around 2002 when the State Dept. terrorist watch list was hacked. They got into the system via a Windows exploit. This exploit was known 6 months prior ( a well known one that Microsoft sent an alert out on )and a patch was provided. I wrote my congressmen on it- only one answered ( DeMint) and he said that his office checked into it and State assured them that no data was taken. I wrote back that 1) How can they be sure no data was taken and 2)The main point wasn't that they just got into the system but that the IT staff did not update the patch that allowed them to get into the system - even though it had been available for 6 months ( which also told me that they had not updated their system for at least 6 months, so how many more vulnerabilities were there on the system ). I got no reply to the second letter.
+1
;^)
The really bad news is America has the ability to identify each and every one of these scumbags and either take them out quietly or with public honors.
I give Trump a few more cycles to put it together. There is no excuse to allow this filth to get away with it.
Windows XP was released in 2001. Do you think they should support operating systems for all time?
That's a lot of $$$ for a company to spend time and resources on, considering the dwindling user base because there have been two later generations of operating systems released in the years since.
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