NSA Links WannaCry Ransomware Attack To North Korea

[Guest]

It's been a little over a month since the WannaCry ransomware compromised more than 300,000 computers around the world. That appears to be just enough time for the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) to attribute the attack to North Korea.

NSA Links WannaCry Ransomware Attack To North Korea : Read more

 

[hwlr77]

maybe dennis rodman can get to the bottom of it.

 

[DookieDraws]

That dude in the middle of the picture fell asleep. I bet they hanged him afterwards. 😛

 

[acme64]

that mouse pad tho

 

[Somasonic]

What's with the penguins on the desks? Looks like the most expensive part of the set up.

 

[JamesSneed]

that mouse pad tho

Yeah had the same thought. Guess they are not using Windows huh.

 

[JamesSneed]

I bet they are playing LAN solitaire against each other in the photo.

 

[bit_user]

I really hope there's some independent analysis linking this to DPRK. Not to say it's not plausible, but remember Colin Powell and "Yellow Cake"? Someone could be grooming us for war with North Korea.

 

[DookieDraws]

They need to work on that cable management, though. Laying all out in the floor in the way.

 

[sh4dow83]

"at least people using legacy versions of Windows are being reminded how important it is to update their software."

... or finally switch to Linux. At work, I've recently ditched my Windows machine. The one at home is the next to go.

 

[bit_user]

At work, I've recently ditched my Windows machine. The one at home is the next to go.

Where I work IT only touches Windows. Anything Linux is strictly DIY. No matter that probably half the engineers are using it...

The worst part is that remote access is strictly Windows-based.

 

[bit_user]

They need to work on that cable management, though. Laying all out in the floor in the way.

Not to mention the fact that they're VGA, right?

The desks look rather nice, at first, but then it seems they forgot to leave any place for the user to put their legs. #DeskFail

And I'm looking at that case... it's like the PSU is right beside the mobo, leading me to wonder what's at the top of the case?

 

[falchard]

Considering North Korea's infrastructure. I find it hard to believe they have an elite hacking team. Probably some one who left a trail back to North Korea which groups will instantly jump on in order to hide their tracks.

 

[JoeMomma]

RGB is evil: Confirmed

 

[CKKwan]

Again, NSA allegation was China, now NK but itself?

Earlier said that the notification message was hand written in English and Chinese, but in fact for any native Chinese reader, the Chinese is flaw. It is worst than a 9 y.o.

So now they turn to NK?

 

[alyoshka]

LOL!!!! And I thought they'd blame Iran..... For a country that doesn't even have complete access to the internet.... they really expect us to believe what they're saying is true. Someone really ought to drum some sense into this government, war economy times over. They better get their head out of MOABs ass and start thinking about how to clean up the mess they've created in the world instead of making it more ffed up.

 

[LORD_ORION]

NSA "North Korea is behind it! They exploited the hole WE were exploiting."

*clap clap clap clap*

 

[RomeoReject]

Anybody else find it funny that Korea's intelligence service have the acronym RGB? They're the brightest agents in the field.

 

[bigpinkdragon286]

So, the North Koreans, known for putting out mocked up PR photos, have put out pictures of old, analog equipment to convince their enemies of what exactly?

The source of this problem lies squarely on the shoulders of the NSA, no matter who they point fingers at and how they spin it. In light of their inability to keep track of their own people and things, I'll take this with a grain of salt.

 

[rantoc]

For you who think major internet access is needed for something like this i have to ask - Why wouldn't say an internet access with a modem be enough in the hands of a clever person? =)

For hacking its generally a mix of the following - Skill/finesse, social engineering or brute-force and the first two don't really require fancy hardware/bandwidth.

 

[bit_user]

All this talk of net access is interesting. From where does DPRK get its backbone links? China? Russia? I really doubt it's through South Korea or Japan. Maybe a satellite link to somewhere...

But, if enough pressure is brought to bear, it'd probably be possible to get China & Russia to cut them off. Even if they do have a few satellite links, that's still not enough for very much. And maybe they could be targeted with some sort of countermeasures.

What I'm saying is that so much focus has been brought to bear on trade embargoes. But, if they're really behind this and other hacking attacks, a much better response might be to pull the plug on their internet. I guess they could still fly hackers to Philipines or wherever, but it should definitely hurt their cyber warfare capability and effectively target the elites of their society.

 

[alextheblue]

But, if enough pressure is brought to bear, it'd probably be possible to get China & Russia to cut them off.

I find it unlikely they would cut them off completely. Don't get me wrong, we still need to continue applying pressure on China, but it won't be enough for them to totally isolate North Korea. They're a useful tool and distraction, and can be used as a proxy / scape goat when needed.

 

[falchard]

For the DPRK, sending people out of the country poses another issue. They never come back.

 

[spectrewind]

CLICKBATE... Inept articles like this are EXACTLY why I use an ad-blocker....

 

[bit_user]

CLICKBATE... Inept articles like this are EXACTLY why I use an ad-blocker....

Yeah, there's not much beyond background and then repeating the allegation. No real journalism, like interviewing other sources, or anything like that. In fact, I can't remember the last time I read an article on this site that had more than one source.

I basically treat Tom's as an aggregator of press releases + some decent hardware reviews. Paul Alcorn's articles seem to be the most in-depth coverage of industry developments & trends, but they're relatively few & far between.