US blames North Korea for WannaCry attack: Is Kim Jong-un behind it?

north korea
KCNA/Reuters

WannaCry, the ransomware attack which shook the world in May 2017 is the brainchild of Kim Jong-un, says a senior US official who has studied on this issue. The shocking statement was made by Thomas Bossert, an aide to US President Donald Trump in a recent talk with the Wall Street Journal newspaper. This is for the first time that the United States has publicly blamed a country for the WannaCry ransomware attack.

According to credible sources, it has been learned that the US will inform other countries in the world regarding North Korea's capability to conduct similar attacks like WannaCry, and will ask other nations to implement all relevant United Nations Security Council sanctions which will pressurize the rogue nation.

Also read: North Korea gearing up with another nuclear test?

Bossert made it clear that the announcement was made based on pieces of evidence collected by experts in the United States. The US official also added that the United Kingdom and technicians in Microsoft have blamed North Korea for the dreaded cyber attack.

"North Korea has acted especially badly, largely unchecked, for more than a decade, and its malicious behavior is growing more egregious. WannaCry was indiscriminately reckless. As we make the internet safer, we will continue to hold accountable those who harm or threaten us, whether they act alone or on behalf of criminal organizations or hostile nations," wrote Bossert.

The White House is expected to issue an official statement blaming North Korea's role in the WannaCry attack on Tuesday morning.

WannaCry Attack: A cyber attack which shook the world

The WannaCry cyber attack happened in May 2017 when more than 3,00,000 computers using windows operating system had their contents locked. The hacker group demanded to pay a ransom to restore their data, and this unprecedented attack affected computers in more than 150 countries.

The vicious clutches of WannaCry unanimously affected various countries all across the globe, while it was Russia and the UK, which were most affected by this malware attack. The postal service of Russia was interrupted due to the attack, and in the UK, it was the NHS services which were affected badly post the ransomware attack.

This article was first published on December 19, 2017
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