Remember the Wannacry malware virus last month? If you don’t, then let me refresh you. It caused the health industry in Great Britain mass chaos. In fact, it hit dozens of other nations. Did North Korea start Wannacry?
Britian’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) says yes. They say North Korean group Lazarus was behind the hold thing. But does this hacking group sound familiar? It should. Because this group hacked Sony back in late 2014. This was their was of ahem…protesting The Interview. That was a Seth Rogan and James Franco movie that openly mocked NK dictator Kim Jong Un. In May 2017, according to British authorities, they made a comeback.
Because in May 2017, they came out with WannaCry ransomware. This virus locked computer systems all around the world. However, this was especially true in Great Britain. They wouldn’t unlock them until the businesses they hacked pay a certain ransom. It was usually to be in Bitcoin. Government and private cyber security persons worked around the clock to break their code. They saw many patterns that look like the Lazarus group. The US’s NSA also blames North Korea for this attack, though they WannaCry didn’t hit them as bad. Back in 2016, North Korean hackers ripped off the nation of Bangladesh of over $81 million.
So did North Korea start Wannacry? If the authorities are right, then why? How far up the North Korean dictatorship does this go? Let’s call the North Korean government what it really is…a dictatorship, not a leadership! But was this about money? I think that was a part of it. However, this is a lot more to this. Look at the nuclear war talk North Korea spews. Furthermore, look at how they’re testing missiles. In our Boston computer service shop, none of our clients have come down with WannaCry. Thank goodness. But my concern is this virus isn’t just about holding computer systems hostages. Could North Korea be using Wannacry to see how far they can go? Is this is a prelude to more sinister actions from them?