A massive attack is spreading globally by way of a vulnerability in Microsoft 's Server Message Block that was patched Vulnerability-related.PatchVulnerability in March . Ransomware is no longer just a nuisance . Now it 's quite literally a matter of life and death . A massive ransomware attack Attack.Ransom being labeled as `` WannaCry Attack.Ransom `` has been reported around the world and is responsible for shutting down hospitals in the United Kingdom and encrypting files at Spanish telecom firm Telefonica . The WannaCry attack Attack.Ransom is not a zero-day flaw , but rather is based on an exploit that Microsoft patched Vulnerability-related.PatchVulnerability with its MS17-010 advisory on March 14 in the SMB Server . However , Microsoft did not highlight Vulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability the SMB flaw until April 14 , when a hacker group known as the Shadow Brokers released Vulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability a set of exploits , allegedly stolen Attack.Databreach from the U.S.National Security Agency . SMB , or Server Message Block , is a critical protocol used by Windows to enable file and folder sharing . It 's also the protocol that today 's WannaCry attack Attack.Ransom is exploiting to rapidly spread from one host to the next around the world , literally at the speed of light . The attack is what is known as a worm , `` slithering '' from one host to the next on connected networks . Among the first large organizations to be impacted by WannaCry is The National Health Service in the UK , which has publicly confirmed that it was attacked Attack.Ransom by the Wan na Decryptor. `` This attack Attack.Ransom was not specifically targeted at the NHS and is affecting organisations from across a range of sectors , '' the NHS stated . `` At this stage we do not have any evidence that patient data has been accessed Attack.Databreach . '' Security firm Kaspersky Lab reported that by 2:30 p.m . ET May 12 it had already seen more than 45,000 WannaCry attacks Attack.Ransom in 74 countries . While the ransomware attack Attack.Ransom is making use of the SMB vulnerability to spread , the encryption of files is done by the Wanna Decryptor attack Attack.Ransom that seeks out all files on a victim 's network . Once the ransomware has completed encrypting files , victims are presented with a screen demanding a ransom Attack.Ransom . Initially , the ransom requested Attack.Ransom was reported to be $ 300 worth of Bitcoin , according to Kaspersky Lab . `` Many of your documents , photos , videos , databases and other files are no longer accessible because they have been encrypted , '' the ransom note states . `` Maybe you are busy looking for a way to recover your files , but do not waste your time . Nobody can recover your files without our decryption service . '' It 's not clear who the original source of the global WannaCry attacks Attack.Ransom is at this point , or even if it 's a single threat actor or multiple actors . What is clear is that despite the fact that a software patch has been available Vulnerability-related.PatchVulnerability since March for the SMB flaws , WannaCry is using tens of thousands of organizations that did n't patch Vulnerability-related.PatchVulnerability .

Three months on from the global WannaCry cyberattack Attack.Ransom , someone has withdrawn funds acquired when victims paid ransoms Attack.Ransom . Almost three months on from the WannaCry ransomware outbreak Attack.Ransom , those behind the global cyberattack Attack.Ransom have finally cashed out their ransom payments Attack.Ransom . The WannaCry epidemic hit Attack.Ransom organisations around the world in May , with the file-encrypting malware -- which used a leaked NSA exploit -- attacking Attack.Ransom Windows systems . It infected over 300,000 PCs and crippling systems across the Americas , Europe , Russia , and China . The UK 's National Health Service was particularly badly hit Attack.Ransom by the attack Attack.Ransom , with hospitals and doctor 's surgeries knocked offline , and some services not restored until days after the ransomware hit Attack.Ransom . WannaCry continued to claim victims even after the initial outbreak : June saw Honda forced to shut down a factory due to an infection and speed cameras in Victoria , Australia also fell victim to the ransomware . While the attack Attack.Ransom was certainly high profile , mistakes in the code meant many victims of WannaCry Attack.Ransom were able to successfully unlock systems without giving into the demands Attack.Ransom of hackers . A bot tracking ransom payments Attack.Ransom says only 338 victims paid Attack.Ransom the $ 300 bitcoin ransom demand Attack.Ransom - not exactly a large haul for an attack which infected hundreds of thousands of computers . In the months since the attack Attack.Ransom , the bitcoin wallets containing the money extorted Attack.Ransom by WannaCry were left untouched , but August 3 saw them suddenly start to be emptied . At the time of withdrawal , the value of the wallets totalled $ 140,000 thanks to changes in the valuation of bitcoin . Three separate withdrawals between 7.3 bitcoin ( $ 20,055 ) and 9.67 bitcoin ( $ 26,435 ) were made in the space of a minute at 4:10am BST , accounting for around half of the total value of the extorted funds . Five minutes later , three more withdrawals of between seven bitcoin ( $ 19.318 ) and 10 Bitcoin ( $ 27,514 ) were made in the space of another 60 seconds . Ten minutes later , a final withdrawal was made , emptying the remaining bitcoin from the WannaCry wallets . There 's no official confirmation of who carried out the attack , but both private cybersecurity firms and investigating government agencies have pointed to North Korea as the culprit . A month after WannaCry Attack.Ransom , companies around the world found themselves being hit Attack.Ransom by another fast-spreading cyberattack in the form of Petya , which like WannaCry is still causing issues for some of those affected . Unfortunately , the success of WannaCry and Petya infection rates means many cybercriminal groups are attempting to copy the worm-like features of these viruses for their own ends .

Three months on from the global WannaCry cyberattack Attack.Ransom , someone has withdrawn funds acquired when victims paid ransoms Attack.Ransom . Almost three months on from the WannaCry ransomware outbreak Attack.Ransom , those behind the global cyberattack Attack.Ransom have finally cashed out their ransom payments Attack.Ransom . The WannaCry epidemic hit Attack.Ransom organisations around the world in May , with the file-encrypting malware -- which used a leaked NSA exploit -- attacking Attack.Ransom Windows systems . It infected over 300,000 PCs and crippling systems across the Americas , Europe , Russia , and China . The UK 's National Health Service was particularly badly hit Attack.Ransom by the attack Attack.Ransom , with hospitals and doctor 's surgeries knocked offline , and some services not restored until days after the ransomware hit Attack.Ransom . WannaCry continued to claim victims even after the initial outbreak : June saw Honda forced to shut down a factory due to an infection and speed cameras in Victoria , Australia also fell victim to the ransomware . While the attack Attack.Ransom was certainly high profile , mistakes in the code meant many victims of WannaCry Attack.Ransom were able to successfully unlock systems without giving into the demands Attack.Ransom of hackers . A bot tracking ransom payments Attack.Ransom says only 338 victims paid Attack.Ransom the $ 300 bitcoin ransom demand Attack.Ransom - not exactly a large haul for an attack which infected hundreds of thousands of computers . In the months since the attack Attack.Ransom , the bitcoin wallets containing the money extorted Attack.Ransom by WannaCry were left untouched , but August 3 saw them suddenly start to be emptied . At the time of withdrawal , the value of the wallets totalled $ 140,000 thanks to changes in the valuation of bitcoin . Three separate withdrawals between 7.3 bitcoin ( $ 20,055 ) and 9.67 bitcoin ( $ 26,435 ) were made in the space of a minute at 4:10am BST , accounting for around half of the total value of the extorted funds . Five minutes later , three more withdrawals of between seven bitcoin ( $ 19.318 ) and 10 Bitcoin ( $ 27,514 ) were made in the space of another 60 seconds . Ten minutes later , a final withdrawal was made , emptying the remaining bitcoin from the WannaCry wallets . There 's no official confirmation of who carried out the attack , but both private cybersecurity firms and investigating government agencies have pointed to North Korea as the culprit . A month after WannaCry Attack.Ransom , companies around the world found themselves being hit Attack.Ransom by another fast-spreading cyberattack in the form of Petya , which like WannaCry is still causing issues for some of those affected . Unfortunately , the success of WannaCry and Petya infection rates means many cybercriminal groups are attempting to copy the worm-like features of these viruses for their own ends .

Ransomware authors are profiting from the rise of the cryptocurrency -- but it 's also bringing some unexpected problems for them and other dark web operators . The value of bitcoin has soared in recent days : at the one point the cryptocurrency was worth almost $ 19,000 before it dropped back to around $ 16,500 , where it has roughly remained since . It 's almost impossible to predict what will happen next . The price of bitcoin could rise again or it could crash -- but , for now at least , a single unit of the cryptocurrency is worth a significant amount of money . Bitcoin has become the popular payment method for ransomware over the last two years , as the digital currency provides cybercriminals with a means of collecting ransoms Attack.Ransom , while also making it difficult to get the ransom-collectors ' identities , thanks to the level of anonymity it offers . WannaCry Attack.Ransom , the biggest ransomware event of the year , for example , hit Attack.Ransom hundreds of thousands of PCs around the globe , encrypting files and demanding a payment Attack.Ransom of $ 300 in bitcoin for the safe return of what was stored on the machine . In this instance , the ransomware code itself was poorly written and the vast majority of victims were able to restore their systems without giving into the demands Attack.Ransom of the cyber-attackers . However , by the time those behind WannaCry Attack.Ransom had withdrawn funds from the associated Bitcoin wallets -- a full three months after the attack -- it meant the 338 payments Attack.Ransom victims had made were worth around $ 140,000 , which was an increase in value of just under $ 50,000 compared to when the majority of payments were made Attack.Ransom . If those behind WannaCry Attack.Ransom have held onto their illicit investment , they could now be sitting on over $ 1m of bitcoin . But the sudden spike in bitcoin could actually be problematic for some cybercriminals . Before the surge in value , 1 or 0.5 bitcoin was a common ransom demand Attack.Ransom , with the idea that if the fee was low enough -- back then the ransom value worked out at a few hundred dollars -- this would encourage the victim to pay up Attack.Ransom . Even as the value of bitcoin steadily rose during the summer , some attackers were still using the standard amounts of cryptocurrency as their ransom demand Attack.Ransom . For example , Magniber ransomware demanded a payment Attack.Ransom of 0.2 bitcoin ( $ 1,138 in mid-October ) , rising to 0.4 bitcoin ( $ 2,275 in mid-October ) if the payment wasn't received Attack.Ransom within five days . Two months later , 0.2 bitcoin is currently worth $ 3,312 while 0.4 bitcoin is up to $ 6,625 . Many forms of ransomware already ask for the payment Attack.Ransom of a specified amount of dollars to be made in bitcoin . While it pins hopes on victims being able to buy a specific amount of bitcoin and successfully transfer the payment -- which some criminal gangs get around by manning help desks providing advice on buying cryptocurrency -- it 's more likely to result in the victim paying up Attack.Ransom , especially if the figure is just a few hundred dollars . `` I imagine the volatility of bitcoin pricing has been an unexpected problem for cybercriminals . The average ransom demand Attack.Ransom has remained somewhere between $ 300 to $ 1000 , and normally the ransom note will specify a USD amount , '' Andy Norton , director of threat intelligence at Lastline , told ZDNet . It is n't just ransomware distributors who might be faced with the problem of valuing items in pure bitcoin : a Dark Web vendor -- whether they are selling malware , weapons , drugs , or any other illegal item -- might find that setting their price in pure bitcoin will quickly result in them pricing themselves out of the market . With bitcoin prices continuing to rise , sophisticated cybercriminal operators can likely react to it , altering prices on a day-to-day basis to ensure that they 're able to sustain their business . Criminals are trying out alternative pricing models for ransomware already . Some criminals already operate around the idea that they charge Attack.Ransom victims just enough so that they do n't see the ransom Attack.Ransom as too much to pay Attack.Ransom -- and that often depends on the country the victims are in . The Fatboy ransomware payment scheme charges Attack.Ransom victims in poorer countries less than those in richer ones . Meanwhile , those behind Scarab ransomware have started asking Attack.Ransom victims to suggest a payment amount Attack.Ransom for receiving the encryption key for their files .

Ransomware authors are profiting from the rise of the cryptocurrency -- but it 's also bringing some unexpected problems for them and other dark web operators . The value of bitcoin has soared in recent days : at the one point the cryptocurrency was worth almost $ 19,000 before it dropped back to around $ 16,500 , where it has roughly remained since . It 's almost impossible to predict what will happen next . The price of bitcoin could rise again or it could crash -- but , for now at least , a single unit of the cryptocurrency is worth a significant amount of money . Bitcoin has become the popular payment method for ransomware over the last two years , as the digital currency provides cybercriminals with a means of collecting ransoms Attack.Ransom , while also making it difficult to get the ransom-collectors ' identities , thanks to the level of anonymity it offers . WannaCry Attack.Ransom , the biggest ransomware event of the year , for example , hit Attack.Ransom hundreds of thousands of PCs around the globe , encrypting files and demanding a payment Attack.Ransom of $ 300 in bitcoin for the safe return of what was stored on the machine . In this instance , the ransomware code itself was poorly written and the vast majority of victims were able to restore their systems without giving into the demands Attack.Ransom of the cyber-attackers . However , by the time those behind WannaCry Attack.Ransom had withdrawn funds from the associated Bitcoin wallets -- a full three months after the attack -- it meant the 338 payments Attack.Ransom victims had made were worth around $ 140,000 , which was an increase in value of just under $ 50,000 compared to when the majority of payments were made Attack.Ransom . If those behind WannaCry Attack.Ransom have held onto their illicit investment , they could now be sitting on over $ 1m of bitcoin . But the sudden spike in bitcoin could actually be problematic for some cybercriminals . Before the surge in value , 1 or 0.5 bitcoin was a common ransom demand Attack.Ransom , with the idea that if the fee was low enough -- back then the ransom value worked out at a few hundred dollars -- this would encourage the victim to pay up Attack.Ransom . Even as the value of bitcoin steadily rose during the summer , some attackers were still using the standard amounts of cryptocurrency as their ransom demand Attack.Ransom . For example , Magniber ransomware demanded a payment Attack.Ransom of 0.2 bitcoin ( $ 1,138 in mid-October ) , rising to 0.4 bitcoin ( $ 2,275 in mid-October ) if the payment wasn't received Attack.Ransom within five days . Two months later , 0.2 bitcoin is currently worth $ 3,312 while 0.4 bitcoin is up to $ 6,625 . Many forms of ransomware already ask for the payment Attack.Ransom of a specified amount of dollars to be made in bitcoin . While it pins hopes on victims being able to buy a specific amount of bitcoin and successfully transfer the payment -- which some criminal gangs get around by manning help desks providing advice on buying cryptocurrency -- it 's more likely to result in the victim paying up Attack.Ransom , especially if the figure is just a few hundred dollars . `` I imagine the volatility of bitcoin pricing has been an unexpected problem for cybercriminals . The average ransom demand Attack.Ransom has remained somewhere between $ 300 to $ 1000 , and normally the ransom note will specify a USD amount , '' Andy Norton , director of threat intelligence at Lastline , told ZDNet . It is n't just ransomware distributors who might be faced with the problem of valuing items in pure bitcoin : a Dark Web vendor -- whether they are selling malware , weapons , drugs , or any other illegal item -- might find that setting their price in pure bitcoin will quickly result in them pricing themselves out of the market . With bitcoin prices continuing to rise , sophisticated cybercriminal operators can likely react to it , altering prices on a day-to-day basis to ensure that they 're able to sustain their business . Criminals are trying out alternative pricing models for ransomware already . Some criminals already operate around the idea that they charge Attack.Ransom victims just enough so that they do n't see the ransom Attack.Ransom as too much to pay Attack.Ransom -- and that often depends on the country the victims are in . The Fatboy ransomware payment scheme charges Attack.Ransom victims in poorer countries less than those in richer ones . Meanwhile , those behind Scarab ransomware have started asking Attack.Ransom victims to suggest a payment amount Attack.Ransom for receiving the encryption key for their files .

Ransomware authors are profiting from the rise of the cryptocurrency -- but it 's also bringing some unexpected problems for them and other dark web operators . The value of bitcoin has soared in recent days : at the one point the cryptocurrency was worth almost $ 19,000 before it dropped back to around $ 16,500 , where it has roughly remained since . It 's almost impossible to predict what will happen next . The price of bitcoin could rise again or it could crash -- but , for now at least , a single unit of the cryptocurrency is worth a significant amount of money . Bitcoin has become the popular payment method for ransomware over the last two years , as the digital currency provides cybercriminals with a means of collecting ransoms Attack.Ransom , while also making it difficult to get the ransom-collectors ' identities , thanks to the level of anonymity it offers . WannaCry Attack.Ransom , the biggest ransomware event of the year , for example , hit Attack.Ransom hundreds of thousands of PCs around the globe , encrypting files and demanding a payment Attack.Ransom of $ 300 in bitcoin for the safe return of what was stored on the machine . In this instance , the ransomware code itself was poorly written and the vast majority of victims were able to restore their systems without giving into the demands Attack.Ransom of the cyber-attackers . However , by the time those behind WannaCry Attack.Ransom had withdrawn funds from the associated Bitcoin wallets -- a full three months after the attack -- it meant the 338 payments Attack.Ransom victims had made were worth around $ 140,000 , which was an increase in value of just under $ 50,000 compared to when the majority of payments were made Attack.Ransom . If those behind WannaCry Attack.Ransom have held onto their illicit investment , they could now be sitting on over $ 1m of bitcoin . But the sudden spike in bitcoin could actually be problematic for some cybercriminals . Before the surge in value , 1 or 0.5 bitcoin was a common ransom demand Attack.Ransom , with the idea that if the fee was low enough -- back then the ransom value worked out at a few hundred dollars -- this would encourage the victim to pay up Attack.Ransom . Even as the value of bitcoin steadily rose during the summer , some attackers were still using the standard amounts of cryptocurrency as their ransom demand Attack.Ransom . For example , Magniber ransomware demanded a payment Attack.Ransom of 0.2 bitcoin ( $ 1,138 in mid-October ) , rising to 0.4 bitcoin ( $ 2,275 in mid-October ) if the payment wasn't received Attack.Ransom within five days . Two months later , 0.2 bitcoin is currently worth $ 3,312 while 0.4 bitcoin is up to $ 6,625 . Many forms of ransomware already ask for the payment Attack.Ransom of a specified amount of dollars to be made in bitcoin . While it pins hopes on victims being able to buy a specific amount of bitcoin and successfully transfer the payment -- which some criminal gangs get around by manning help desks providing advice on buying cryptocurrency -- it 's more likely to result in the victim paying up Attack.Ransom , especially if the figure is just a few hundred dollars . `` I imagine the volatility of bitcoin pricing has been an unexpected problem for cybercriminals . The average ransom demand Attack.Ransom has remained somewhere between $ 300 to $ 1000 , and normally the ransom note will specify a USD amount , '' Andy Norton , director of threat intelligence at Lastline , told ZDNet . It is n't just ransomware distributors who might be faced with the problem of valuing items in pure bitcoin : a Dark Web vendor -- whether they are selling malware , weapons , drugs , or any other illegal item -- might find that setting their price in pure bitcoin will quickly result in them pricing themselves out of the market . With bitcoin prices continuing to rise , sophisticated cybercriminal operators can likely react to it , altering prices on a day-to-day basis to ensure that they 're able to sustain their business . Criminals are trying out alternative pricing models for ransomware already . Some criminals already operate around the idea that they charge Attack.Ransom victims just enough so that they do n't see the ransom Attack.Ransom as too much to pay Attack.Ransom -- and that often depends on the country the victims are in . The Fatboy ransomware payment scheme charges Attack.Ransom victims in poorer countries less than those in richer ones . Meanwhile , those behind Scarab ransomware have started asking Attack.Ransom victims to suggest a payment amount Attack.Ransom for receiving the encryption key for their files .

A flaw in unpatched versions of Window 10 could leave machines vulnerable Vulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability to EternalBlue , the remote kernel exploit behind the recent WannaCry ransomware attack Attack.Ransom . WannaCry targeted a Server Message Block ( SMB ) critical vulnerability that Microsoft patched Vulnerability-related.PatchVulnerability with MS17-010 on March 14 , 2017 . While WannaCry damage Attack.Ransom was mostly limited to machines running Windows 7 , a different version of EternalBlue could infect Windows 10 . Researchers at RiskSense stripped the original leaked version of EternalBlue down to its essential components and deemed parts of the data unnecessary for exploitation . They found they could bypass detection rules recommended by governments and antivirus vendors , says RiskSense senior security researcher Sean Dillon . This version of EternalBlue , an exploit initially released by Shadow Brokers earlier this year , does not use the DoublePulsar payload common among other exploits leaked by the hacker group . DoublePulsar was the main implant used in WannaCry Attack.Ransom and a key focus for defenders . `` That backdoor is unnecessary , '' says Dillon , noting how it 's dangerous for businesses to only focus on DoublePulsar malware . `` This exploit could directly load malware onto the system without needing to install the backdoor . '' EternalBlue gives instant un-credentialed remote access to Windows machines without the MS17-010 patch update . While it 's difficult to port EternalBlue to additional versions of Windows , it 's not impossible . Unpatched Windows 10 machines are at risk , despite the fact that Microsoft 's newest OS receives exploit mitigations that earlier versions do n't . The slimmed-down EternalBlue can be ported to unpatched versions of Windows 10 and deliver stealthier payloads . An advanced malware would be able to target any Windows machine , broadening the spread of an attack like WannaCry , Dillon explains . It 's worth noting WannaCry was a blatant , obvious attack , he says , and other types of malware , like banking spyware and bitcoin miners , could more easily fly under the radar . `` These can infect a network and you wo n't know about it until years later , '' he says . `` It 's a threat to organizations that have been targets , like governments and corporations . Attackers may try to get onto these networks and lay dormant … then steal Attack.Databreach intellectual property or cause other damage . '' Dillon emphasizes the importance of updating Vulnerability-related.PatchVulnerability to the latest version of Windows 10 , but says patching Vulnerability-related.PatchVulnerability alone wo n't give complete protection from this kind of threat . Businesses with SMB facing the Internet should also put up firewalls , and set up VPN access for users who need external access to the internal network . Businesses should have a good inventory of software and devices on their networks , along with processes for identifying and deploying Vulnerability-related.PatchVulnerability patches as they are released Vulnerability-related.PatchVulnerability , says Craig Young , computer security researcher for Tripwire 's Vulnerability and Exposures Research Team ( VERT ) . This will become even more critical as attackers move quickly from patch to exploit . There will always be a window of opportunity for attackers before the right patches are installed Vulnerability-related.PatchVulnerability , Young notes . EternalBlue is a `` very fresh vulnerability '' given that most breaches that use exploits leverage flaws that have been publicly known Vulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability for an average of two years or more . `` EternalBlue is a particularly reliable exploit that gives access to execute code at the very highest privilege level , so I would expect that hackers and penetration testers will get a lot of use out of it for years to come , '' he says .