The White House has now publicly blaming North Korea for the massive “WannaCry” malware cyberattack in May that affected hospitals, companies, public services and banks across the world.
More than 300,000 computers in 150 countries were affected by the attack, causing billions of dollars of damage.
White House Homeland Security Adviser Tom Bossert wrote an article in a Wall Street Journal op-ed on Monday, entitled, “It’s Official: North Korea Is Behind WannaCry,” the Hermit Kingdom was the main culprit behind the May 2017 global cyber attack.
“Cybersecurity isn’t easy, but simple principles still apply. Accountability is one, cooperation another,” Bossert's op-ed read. “They are the cornerstones of security and resilience in any society. In furtherance of both, and after careful investigation, the U.S. today publicly attributes the massive ‘WannaCry’ cyber attack to North Korea.”
At a White House press briefing after this article, Bossert elaborated that after "careful investigation," the government has made such a huge attribution to North Korea.
"We don’t do this lightly," Bossert said during the briefing. "We do so with evidence and with partners."
Now, The US and UK governments officially blame North Korea for the worm.
“North Korea has acted especially badly, largely unchecked, for more than a decade, and its malicious behavior is growing more egregious. WannaCry was indiscriminately reckless,” Bossert asserted. “Stopping malicious behavior like this starts with accountability. It also requires governments and businesses to cooperate to mitigate cyber risk and increase the cost to hackers.”
He added, “The U.S. must lead this effort, rallying allies and responsible tech companies throughout the free world to increase the security and resilience of the internet.”
However, there is no proof which could testify the claims made by Bossert.