The White House accused the DPRK of creating a ransomware virus

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The US administration said that Pyongyang is directly responsible for cyber attacks using the extortion virus WannaCrywhich hospitals, banks and other enterprises and institutions around the world were subjected to in May of this year, writes Air force.

The virus has infected more than 300 thousands of computers in 150 countries, the cumulative damage from the attack is estimated at billions of dollars.

Accusations against the DPRK expressed adviser to the President of the United States Thomas Bossert in an article published in the newspaper Wall Street Journal.

Bossert, who advises Donald Trump on national security issues, said his accusations are based on convincing evidence, and added that the UK authorities and the company Microsoft share his point of view and also blame the attack on structures linked to the DPRK government.

In May of this year, tens of thousands of computers running on the Windows operating system turned out to be infected with ransomware viruswho blocked access to the contents of the hard disk and demanded a ransom, otherwise threatening to destroy all the stored information.

In his article, Bossert states that the DPRK authorities need to be held accountable for this attack and that the United States will continue to pursue a “maximum pressure strategy” on the North Korean regime to deny Pyongyang the ability to carry out such cyberattacks.

What kind of steps are going to take the US authorities in response to this attack, Trump's adviser did not elaborate.

Serious economic sanctions have already been imposed against Pyongyang after the United States included the DPRK in the list of countries supporting terrorism at the state level in response to regular missile tests and the continuation of its nuclear program.

“As we strive to make the Internet safer, we will continue to hold accountable those who threaten or harm us, be they individuals, criminal groups or hostile countries,” Bossert said.

“The opportunities available to totalitarian regimes are too dangerous to ignore,” he emphasizes.

The White House is expected to release an official statement on Tuesday, blaming the attack on the North Korean authorities.

"An unprecedented attack"

The cyber attack, carried out with the extortion virus WannaCry in May of this year, began in Britain and Spain and affected more than 150 countries.

Russia was among the countries most affected by the attack: the computer systems of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Health, the Investigative Committee, the Russian Railways company, banks and the mobile operator Megafon were attacked.

Among the most seriously affected by the virus was the British Public Health System (NHS). Many hospitals and clinics were forced to send patients home, because the staff could not access computer information.

Europol called cyber attack unprecedented.

Experts from Kaspersky Lab previously suggested that the virus could have been created by North Korean hackers from the group Lazarus. This grouping, in particular, is blamed for the theft of 81 million dollars from the Central Bank of Bangladesh in February last year.

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