Source: Collective Evolution
In recent hacker news, a group exploiting malicious software stolen from the National Security Agency executed damaging cyberattacks on Friday, resulting in a worldwide frenzy that froze computers at Russia’s Interior Ministry, forced Britain’s public health system to send patients away, and caused tens of thousands of computers elsewhere to malfunction.
With over 50,000 computer having been targeted, the ransomware virus infected computer files and then demanded money to unblock them.
According to Kaspersky Lab, a Russian cybersecurity firm, Russia was the worst-hit, followed by Ukraine, India, and Taiwan. Reports of attacks also came from Latin America and Africa. The attacks, believed to be the largest ransomware assault on record to date, was described by security experts as a perfect storm.
The attack began with a simple phishing email, much like the one Russian hackers used in the attacks on the Democratic National Committee and other targets last year. They then used a hacking method the NSA is believed to have developed as a cyberweapon to spread through victim’s systems. Finally, they encrypted the computer systems of the victims, which ultimately locked them out of important data.
