A major cyber attack crippling thousands of computers and networks was launched by a group of hackers from North Korea. It is said to be a coordinated cyber attack and has so far hit companies operating in more than 100 countries.
The attack was a ‘Wannacry’ ransomware attack which tricked victims into opening malicious malware attachments containing fake invoices, job offers, bank details and security warnings.
In reality, the email contained malware which gets activated when clicked and encrypts all data on the victim’s computer. Hackers are said to be demanding payments of $300 to $600 worth bitcoins in exchange for a decrypting key for restoring access.
As per the details available to our reporting sources of Cybersecurity Insiders, the attack was launched by hackers by leveraging hacking tools believed to have been developed by the US National Security Agency- NSA. Reports confirm that the cyber crooks exploited all the exposed cyber vulnerabilities which NSA disclosed in February this year.
But BBC News reported a slightly different story on this issue. It said that hackers exploited a flaw in old Windows operating systems like Windows XP, 7, 8 and Vista and this made many companies and organizations fall prey to the malware.
Britain’s health care services were the most hit as NHS was mainly targeted in this coordinated cyber attack.
Airlines companies in France, US Company FedEx, Spain’s Telefonica, Russia’s Interior Ministry, India’s noted financial institution RBI and Payments authority, some South Indian Police websites, the administration wing of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam and Andhra Pradesh Secretariat websites were among those which were badly hit by Wanna cry ransomware.
Car maker Renault disclosed through Twitter that its car production in slovenia was halted due to cyber attack.
All these days, as soon as a cyber attack was observed in a country, media pointed fingers towards Russia and its state-funded hacking group ‘Fancy Bear’.
But this time, companies operating in Russia have disclosed that they were also the victims of this global cyber attack.
More details will be updated shortly!
