US Blames North Korea for WannaCry Cyber Attack

The Trump administration publicly blamed North Korea for the recent WannaCry cyber-attack that infected over 300,000 computer in 150 countries.

Homeland Security Adviser Tom Bossert wrote in a piece published in the Wall Street Journal on Monday, “The attack was widespread and cost billions, and North Korea is directly responsible.” He added, “North Korea has acted especially badly, largely unchecked, for more than a decade, and its malicious behavior is growing more egregious.”

The U.S. Government can confirm with a ‘very high level of confidence’ that Lazarus Group, the hacking group that works on behalf of North Korea’s government, carried out the WannaCry attack. North Korea has repeatedly denied responsibility for the WannaCry attack, calling the allegations nothing more than a smear campaign against North Korea.

The public announcement was designed to hold Pyongyang accountable for its devastating actions and ‘erode and undercut their ability to launch attacks.’ But this announcement has left many feeling uneasy as growing threats mount about North Korea’s hack capabilities and its nuclear weapons program.  

“What we see if a continued pattern of North Korea misbehaving, whether destructive cyber-attacks, hacking for financial gain, or targeting infrastructure around the globe,” claims a senior administration official.

The British Government announced in late October their conclusion on the actor behind the WannaCry attack, pointing the blame to North Korea as well.

WannaCry was made possible by a flaw in Microsoft Windows, originally discovered by the NSA and then used by the NSA to build a hacking tool for its own use. The hacking tool, Eternal Blue, was subsequently published online by the Shadow Brokers and used across the globe by hackers with malicious intentions.  

Read the article on Reuters