Ransomware

Microsoft President and Chief Legal Officer, Brad Smith, said the DPRK is responsible for cyber attacks with the WannaCry virus, which affected more than 200,000 users earlier this year, ITV reported, quoted by BGNES.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg warned the alliance must step up its defense against cyberattacks, saying they could potentially trigger their Article 5 mutual defense commitment.

Computer users around the world were scrambling on June 28 to reboot systems after a tidal wave of ransomware cyberattacks spread from Ukraine and Russia across Europe to the United States and then on to Asia.

At least three multinational companies in Romania have been affected by the massive cyberattack that has hit institutions, companies and banks in Russia, Ukraine, Denmark, the UK and even the United States - and which continued to spread on Wednesday into Asia.

As the world reels from the WannaCry ransomware attack, it's now emerged that a second, potentially larger attack, is already under way. It seems the widespread proliferation of military-grade cyberweapons has ushered in a new era of digital crime.

Turkey will establish a "cyber army" against possible cyber threats, Turkish Transportation, Maritime Affairs and Communications Minister Ahmet Arslan has said, commenting on the recent WannaCry "ransomware" attack that has infected more than 300,000 computers worldwide.

It has been a frustrating month for all IT executives around the globe. They were faced with the most devastating attack on IT systems that they had ever seen. This attack, different from many known cyberattacks, hit everybody where it really hurts: data.

Rapid advances in information technologies and the increase in the use of internet has created a very complex system; i.e. the "internet of things" (IoT). It refers to the connectivity of devices like refrigerators through embedded network software, enabling them to interact with the external environment via internet.

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The source for WannaCry ransomware, which has spread to 150 countries, may be Pyongyang or those trying to frame it, security analysts say, pointing to code similarities between the virus and a malware attributed to alleged hackers from North Korea.

Chinese local authorities from traffic police to industry regulators were hobbled on Monday by a massive global ransomware attack, but the spread of the WannaCry worm in the country appeared less aggressive than initially feared, Reuters reported.

Several Balkan countries braced on Monday for a new wave of cyberattacks, as Europol warned that last Friday's WannaCry ransomware attack, which affected 150 countries, might trigger aftershocks as people returned to work in the morning.