HUGE NEWS : WannaCry Rages NATO, Military Response Anticipated
WannaCry is not your regular Windows targeting malware anymore, and by affecting several machines worldwide, it has made a pretty big headline since the past month. As if WannaCry was not enough, recently another malware called Petya popped up out of nowhere. Both the malicious WannaCry and Petya "ransomwares" encrypt all your files on your hard drive once in your system against a huge ransom which they ask to be paid in Bitcoins. Surely this has caused big companies and IT Professionals much more pain in the bum than the regular user. As of now, the best way to stay safe is by keeping your Windows fully up-to-dated, while keeping in mind that outdated Windows 7 and older systems are mostly vulnerable.
The story takes a serious turn as the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation recently warned that WannaCry and Petya ransomwares could trigger the Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, ruling that whoever launches such cyber attacks operations could be in the form of military means. In other words, the ransomware attacks will henceforth be considered as military aggression tending to cyber warfare.
According to NATO, both WannaCry and Petya were coded by state-sponsored hackers, hence explaining that if the cyber attack is unleashed with the like mindedness of an armed attack, laws of armed conflict can be rightly applied. And once again the eyes are at Russia, the nation being called out by Ukraine in its involvement with Petya after a December attack caused power loss in the northern part of the city of Kiev. Tomáš Minárik, researcher at NATO CCD COE Law Branch, said that the Treaty's statement was a clear warning to nations being involved in similar ransomware attacks.
“There is a lack of a clear coercive element with respect to any government in the campaign, so prohibited intervention does not come into play. As important government systems have been targeted, then in case the operation is attributed to a state this could count as a violation of sovereignty. Consequently, this could be an internationally wrongful act, which might give the targeted states several options to respond with countermeasures"
As per the officials at NATO, WannaCry and Petya were bred with responsibility by a state. Petya, being the one in more attention recently, is being anticipated to being improved upon to "create a new breed of ultimate attack". Petya is being said to be developed with the motive of being a "declaration of power", as quoted by Lauri Lindstorm, researcher at NATO CCD COE Technology Branch. Till today, WannaCry and Petya infeted thousands of computers worldwide jeopardizing security in the first place. While WannaCry was mostly targeted towards personal users, Petya was unleashed upon major Information Technology firms, organizations and businesses. Ukraine, one of the first to find the roots of the malicious ransomware, is currently Petya's biggest victim and has hence seen power failures, systems going down and several cyber unrest, including such incidents at the Chernobyl Plant.
“Among all new features, the malware has been more professionally developed in contrast with sloppy WannaCry, and instead of scanning the whole Internet it is more targeted and searches for new hosts to infect deeper on local computer networks once initial breach has occurred,”
As of last month, WannaCry had infected UK's healthcare systems, proving its capability far beyond just computers. A Bayer Medrad radiology equipment used to aid MRI scans was reported to be infected along with several other medical equipments that run on Windows, like the Siemens Healthineers products. Smiths Medical, Medtronic, and Johnson & Johnson also reported security alerts. Many critical systems were purportedly taken offline, causing urgent operations to get cancelled. Where human life is concerned, such kind of thing really calls for a rigid lawsuit.
Cyber crime is a real life threat, and if it gets worse it calls for war. Gladly this time, it seems things won't be taken as lightly as always. Whether the attacks are state funded or not, the violators should be aware that such actions can be met with a very real world response.
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The story takes a serious turn as the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation recently warned that WannaCry and Petya ransomwares could trigger the Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, ruling that whoever launches such cyber attacks operations could be in the form of military means. In other words, the ransomware attacks will henceforth be considered as military aggression tending to cyber warfare.
According to NATO, both WannaCry and Petya were coded by state-sponsored hackers, hence explaining that if the cyber attack is unleashed with the like mindedness of an armed attack, laws of armed conflict can be rightly applied. And once again the eyes are at Russia, the nation being called out by Ukraine in its involvement with Petya after a December attack caused power loss in the northern part of the city of Kiev. Tomáš Minárik, researcher at NATO CCD COE Law Branch, said that the Treaty's statement was a clear warning to nations being involved in similar ransomware attacks.
“There is a lack of a clear coercive element with respect to any government in the campaign, so prohibited intervention does not come into play. As important government systems have been targeted, then in case the operation is attributed to a state this could count as a violation of sovereignty. Consequently, this could be an internationally wrongful act, which might give the targeted states several options to respond with countermeasures"
As per the officials at NATO, WannaCry and Petya were bred with responsibility by a state. Petya, being the one in more attention recently, is being anticipated to being improved upon to "create a new breed of ultimate attack". Petya is being said to be developed with the motive of being a "declaration of power", as quoted by Lauri Lindstorm, researcher at NATO CCD COE Technology Branch. Till today, WannaCry and Petya infeted thousands of computers worldwide jeopardizing security in the first place. While WannaCry was mostly targeted towards personal users, Petya was unleashed upon major Information Technology firms, organizations and businesses. Ukraine, one of the first to find the roots of the malicious ransomware, is currently Petya's biggest victim and has hence seen power failures, systems going down and several cyber unrest, including such incidents at the Chernobyl Plant.
“Among all new features, the malware has been more professionally developed in contrast with sloppy WannaCry, and instead of scanning the whole Internet it is more targeted and searches for new hosts to infect deeper on local computer networks once initial breach has occurred,”
As of last month, WannaCry had infected UK's healthcare systems, proving its capability far beyond just computers. A Bayer Medrad radiology equipment used to aid MRI scans was reported to be infected along with several other medical equipments that run on Windows, like the Siemens Healthineers products. Smiths Medical, Medtronic, and Johnson & Johnson also reported security alerts. Many critical systems were purportedly taken offline, causing urgent operations to get cancelled. Where human life is concerned, such kind of thing really calls for a rigid lawsuit.
Cyber crime is a real life threat, and if it gets worse it calls for war. Gladly this time, it seems things won't be taken as lightly as always. Whether the attacks are state funded or not, the violators should be aware that such actions can be met with a very real world response.
More from Ask Us Junkies
What you should know before buying a set of speakers
Pop!_OS, the new funky linux distro from System76
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