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Biggest ransomware outbreak in history hits nearly 100 countries with data held for ransom

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Added on  2019-09-22

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Dozens of countries have been hit with a huge cyber extortion attack that locked computers and held users' files for ransom at a multitude of hospitals, companies and government agencies. The attack appeared to be caused by a self-replicating piece of software that takes advantage of vulnerabilities in older versions of Microsoft Windows, security experts say. It spreads from computer to computer as it finds exposed targets.

Biggest ransomware outbreak in history hits nearly 100 countries with data held for ransom

   Added on 2019-09-22

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'Biggest ransomware outbreak in history' hits nearly 100 countries with data held for ransomUpdated 13 May 2017, 6:47pm Dozens of countries have been hit with a huge cyber extortion attack that locked computers and held users' files for ransom at a multitude of hospitals, companies and government agencies.How did the attack occur?Attack appeared to be caused by a self-replicating piece of software that takes advantage of vulnerabilities in older versions of Microsoft Windows, security experts sayIt spreads from computer to computer as it finds exposed targets.Ransom demands start at $US300 and increase after two hours, a security researcher at Kaspersky Lab saysSecurity holes were disclosed several weeks ago by TheShadowBrokers, a mysteriousgroup that has repeatedly published what it says are hacking tools used by the NSAShortly after that disclosure, Microsoft announced it had already issued software "patches" for those holesBut many companies and individuals have not installed the fixes yet or are using olderversions of Windows that the company no longer supports and for which no patch wasavailableThe most disruptive attacks were reported in Britain, where hospitals and clinics were forced to turn away patients after losing access to computers, but other countries — including Spain,Portugal and Russia — have also been targeted.Cyber extortionists tricked victims into opening malicious malware attachments to spam emails that appeared to contain invoices, job offers, security warnings and other legitimate files.The ransomware encrypted data on the computers, demanding payments of $300 to $600 to restore access. Security researchers said they observed some victims paying via the digital currency bitcoin, though they did not know what per cent had given in to the extortionists.Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer at Helsinki-based cybersecurity company F-Secure, called it "the biggest ransomware outbreak in history".Page 1 of 4http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-05-13/biggest-ransomware-outbreak-in-history-hits-nearly-100-nations/8523102
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The malicious software behind the onslaught appeared to exploit a vulnerability in Microsoft Windows that was supposedly identified by the National Security Agency for its own intelligence-gathering purposes and was later leaked to the internet.Researchers with security software maker Avast said they had observed 57,000 infections in 99 countries with Russia, Ukraine and Taiwan the top targets.Chris Wysopal of the software security firm Veracode said criminal organisations were probably behind the attack, given how quickly the malware spread."For so many organisations in the same day to be hit, this is unprecedented," Mr Wysopal said.But Alan Woodward, visiting professor of computing at the University of Surrey, said he did not believe it was a targeted attack."But will simply have been that the ransomware has sought out those organisations that are running susceptible devices," Mr Woodward said.The US Department of Homeland Security said late on Friday (local time) that it was aware of reports of the ransomware, was sharing information with domestic and foreign partners and was ready to lend technical support.The Group of Seven (G7) rich nations, which are holding a two-day meeting of finance ministers and central bankers in Italy, released a draft statement committing to join forces to fight the rising threat of cyber attacks."We recognise that cyber incidents represent a growing threat for our economies and that appropriate economy-wide policy responses are needed," the draft statement said.It called for common shared practices to spot quickly any vulnerabilities in the world's financial system and stressed the importance of effective measures to assess cyber security among individual financial firms and at sector level.Patients turned away as hospitals hit with ransomwarePrivate security firms identified the ransomware as a new variant of "WannaCry" that had theability to automatically spread across large networks by exploiting a known bug in Microsoft's Windows operating system.The hackers, who have not come forward to claim responsibility or otherwise been identified,likely made it a "worm," or self-spreading malware, by exploiting a piece of NSA code Page 2 of 4http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-05-13/biggest-ransomware-outbreak-in-history-hits-nearly-100-nations/8523102
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