Posted on 05/12/2017 1:00:35 PM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
Hackers using a tool stolen from the United States government conducted extensive cyberattacks on Friday that hit dozens of countries around the world, severely disrupting Britain’s public health system and wreaking havoc on computers elsewhere, including Russia.
The tool was leaked by a group calling itself the Shadow Brokers, which has been dumping stolen N.S.A. hacking tools online since last year. Microsoft rolled out a patch for the vulnerability in March, but hackers apparently took advantage of the fact that vulnerable targets — particularly hospitals — had yet to update their systems.
The malware was circulated by email. Targets were sent an encrypted, compressed file that, once loaded, allowed the ransomware to infiltrate its targets.
Among the many other affected institutions were hospitals and telecommunications companies across Europe and Asia, according to MalwareHunterTeam, a security firm that tracks ransomware attacks.
But the extent of the ransomware attacks could be much broader, as the MalwareHunterTeam said it tracks only attacks that have been reported by the victims. Spain’s Telefónica and Russia’s MegaFon were among the largest of the businesses targeted.
Other countries where attacks were reported included Japan, the Philippines, Turkey and Vietnam.
Spain’s national cryptology center said it was dealing with “a massive ransomware attack” affecting Windows systems used by various organizations, without naming them.
Later on Friday, Portugal reported a similar attack. Carlos Cabreiro, the director of a police unit that fights cybercrime, told the newspaper Público that the country was facing “computer attacks on a large scale against different Portuguese companies, especially communication operators.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
PING
More Obama Legacy in action.
I wonder if the Norks are behind this?...........................
President Trump’s timing enacting this related EO indicates intelligence agencies may have anticipated widespread attacks on gov’t IT assets via stolen NSA hacking toolkit.
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3552512/posts
Executive Order on Strengthening the Cybersecurity of Federal Networks (Trunc)
White House ^ | 05/11/2017 | Donald Trump
Posted on Fri May 12 14:26:50 2017 by MarchonDC09122009
Presidential Executive Order on Strengthening the Cybersecurity of Federal Networks and Critical Infrastructure | whitehouse.gov
The White House Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release May 11, 2017 Presidential Executive Order on Strengthening the Presidential Executive Order on Strengthening the Cybersecurity of Federal Networks and Critical Infrastructure | whitehouse.gov
Is it that Redmond based platform being abused, again?
That’s what I wondered, Fat Boy getting his giggles leading up to the weekend.
Nobody from the Obama Administration will ever face any consequences for creating this Frankenstein’s monster, nor letting it escape.
If these are simple hackers, track them down and shoot them in their chairs. No arrests. If state sponsored drop a MOAB on each location of origination.
This sort of thing will spread unless extreme measures are taken.
“They can give you a heart transplant. They can repair a shattered pelvis. But they can’t update Windows. “
I was a technical account manager for an account that was a hospital group and yes, their update cycle was every 6 months or longer because of the testing they would perform to make sure patches did not impact patient care. I don’t know if all are that way but I bet they are.
Time will tell if this was due to poor patch management or intentional OS back doors. If they are truly using an NSA tool then I doubt any level of patching would help.
It’s the Americans
stolen from American and used outta country, smells like a dry run
I went to pick up a package at the local FedEx facility this morning. No one was in the front office for a few minutes. Then when the employee came in from the back he apologized, saying they were going around shutting off all their PCs due to a malware attack.
I wonder which one of Obama’s employees was ‘extremely careless’, put highly classified information on servers in several unsecure locations, and thereby left a bright and shining path right into NSA Central??!
(Nope, “Scooter Libby” is the wrong answer.)
Quite possibly.
I, for one, have no faith in the N.S.A. “doing the right thing” or having any sort of check/balance or even being held to account.
>More Obama Legacy in action.
Ummmm, you might want to think again. He may have used the tool(s) given to him, but he wasn’t their creator.
It’s important to ensure compatibility by continuing to rent the operating system chosen by professionals worldwide. It’s the choice as wise as paying rent in a mobile home park in tornado alley.
TY, Bush & the (R), for foisting yet another Constitution violating agency. That you Congress for illegally creating these ‘independent’ agencies...some ‘over-sight’, no?
Hackers? This is what some ‘rogue’, create it and forget it..damn A1S8, GOVT created with *our* tax $$$.
This is F&F the Nth degree; the exact kind of sh!t needed when ‘they’ come demanding, “Hand over your Freedoms, or...”. Jobs, bank acct, credit ratings, mortgages...all held hostage, thank to Uncle Sugar.
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