Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Another Ransomware Outbreak Is Going Global

forbes.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 435 posts

Re: Another Ransomware Outbreak Is Going Global

#41

Post by athenot »

rm_-rf_slash wrote: post #17
bkor wrote: post #12

The Netherlands and various other countries have created laws where either their version of the NSA and/or police can hoard 0days to be used for hacking. This massive outbreak is so widespread that at this stage it appears that it either was a very recent 0day or something which only recently was fixed by a patch. Instead of having loads of countries hoarding security problems I highly encourage a focus on security i…

In theory, yes. In practice, the reality may be more complicated. How many ongoing investigations and clandestine operations rely on 0days that could be patched tomorrow? Even if this weren't the case somehow, I could imagine intelligence chiefs and the like defending their 0days as necessary on public safety or national security grounds. Edit: just to clarify, I believe 0days should be reported and patched to make e…

They will try to defend it, but a counterargument can be made if people start losing lives (eg. from medical systems going awry). Then the collateral damage will become unacceptable.

Re: Another Ransomware Outbreak Is Going Global

#42

Post by strictnein »

nlte wrote: post #7

This isn't yet the cyberattack "the world isn't ready for" ( https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/22/technology/ransomware-att... ), is it?

No. This attack is using the EternalBlue vector (MS17-010[0]) and CVE-2017-0199[1]. Updated systems are unaffected.

[0] https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/security/ms17-01...

[1] https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-US/security-guidance/ad...

Re: Another Ransomware Outbreak Is Going Global

#43

Post by rm_-rf_slash »

tobltobs wrote: post #30
rm_-rf_slash wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In theory, yes. In practice, the reality may be more complicated. How many ongoing investigations and clandestine operations rely on 0days that could be patched tomorrow? Even if this weren't the case somehow, I could imagine intelligence chiefs and the like defending their 0days as necessary on public safety or national security grounds. Edit: just to clarify, I believe 0days should be reported and patched to make e…

Your strange theory, that the economical damage is unavoidable to improve security will break down hard if those 0days are used by terrorists for the first time.

I'm not condoning this action I'm just arguing that it's a likely path for politicians to take because of political and media pressures.

Of course I think 0days should be reported and patched immediately.

Re: Another Ransomware Outbreak Is Going Global

#44

Post by strictnein »

mighty_warrior wrote: post #22

Your own fault if you didnt patch out eternalblue. No sympathy for hacked orgs.

Also uses a client side exploit in Word/Wordpad, although that was patched earlier this month:

https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-US/security-guidance/ad...

Re: Another Ransomware Outbreak Is Going Global

#46

Post by paulpauper »

mrb wrote: post #28
mbaha wrote: post #20

A friend sent me the bitcoin address, they've already collected 2600$. [EDIT] Now 3230$ Source: https://blockchain.info/address/1Mz7153HMuxXTuR2R1t78mGSdzaA...

What a clickbait headline. A paltry $3k and yet the article calls this a "MASSIVE ransomware outbreak". I would be curious to see what a "minor" outbreak is.

obviously, that number will grow

Re: Another Ransomware Outbreak Is Going Global

#47

Post by paulpauper »

tobltobs wrote: post #40
paulpauper wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

how can they infect an external drive that backed up the data before the infection?

Why would the malware care about if it is an external or internal drive?

If you back your files up on the usb drive on Tuesday, remove the drive after back u the files, and get infected on Wednesday, the files on the drive obviously are not going to be infected.

Re: Another Ransomware Outbreak Is Going Global

#49

Post by semi-extrinsic »

mrb wrote: post #28
mbaha wrote: post #20

A friend sent me the bitcoin address, they've already collected 2600$. [EDIT] Now 3230$ Source: https://blockchain.info/address/1Mz7153HMuxXTuR2R1t78mGSdzaA...

What a clickbait headline. A paltry $3k and yet the article calls this a "MASSIVE ransomware outbreak". I would be curious to see what a "minor" outbreak is.

In Ukraine, banking services nationwide as well as credit card payments on the metro in Kiev, and the airport IT systems, are all down. At what point do we call it massive? When US banks and airports start having trouble?

Re: Another Ransomware Outbreak Is Going Global

#50

Post by jannes »

This is even more proof how powerful a 0-day in the wrong hands can be.

All of the affected companies' should be considered compromised by the NSA.

Actually, every single Windows PC with an internet connection that has been used before March 14 should be considered irrevocably compromised. Ransomware is much more visible than spyware. Think about all the spyware-infected PCs/networks that nobody knows about.

Post reply on HN