Russia’s Vladimir Putin Blames United States for WannaCry Cyber Attack

On Friday May 12, cyber hackers initiated an attack known as “WannaCry” that impacted and affected countless nations throughout the world.  WannaCry devastated many computers using the Microsoft Windows operating system, and thus caused much terror among citizens in many societies.  According to David Goldman of CNN, WannaCry works through, “Cyber bad guys [who] have spread ransomeware, known as WannaCry, to computers around the world.  It locks down all the files on an infected computer.  The hackers then demand $300 in order to release control of the files.  That’s why it’s called ransomware.”

Taking advantage of the many vulnerabilities of Microsoft Windows operating systems, WannaCry was able to hack into many large corporations and companies, taking control of their respecting files.  According to Europol, the WannaCry attack affected 150 countries and hacked into over 200,000 computers.  Consequently, many were thus moved and angered by this incident.

On Monday, Russia’s Vladimir Putin attacked the United States with the accusation of developing the technology to make this attack possible.  Andrew Roth of The Washington Post notes that, “Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the United States on Monday of developing the sophisticated hacking tools used in a worldwide cyberattack, crippling computers including those used by Russian law enforcement agencies.”  Putin also adds that Russia was not involved with this cyber-attack, directing blame towards the United States for its “infiltration techniques”.

But, United States codes were recently leaked by an online hacking group, dubbed the “Shadow Brokers”, thus proving that the United States was not responsible for this attack.  Roth adds, “Some suspected that Russia was backing Shadow Brokers, but no evidence has emerged to support that claim.”

As WannaCry rampaged throughout the world though, one young man worked tirelessly from his bedroom computer to fight against the injustice.  Marcus Hutchins, an English 22-year-old, found a way to crack the WannaCry code and thus dispersed the threat.  Working for Los Angeles-based Kryptos Logic, he notes that countless computer experts worked to fight the virus and ease the civil unrest that many experienced.  He does not consider himself a “hero” though, explaining that fighting malware is simply “the right thing to do.”

Tom Bossert, the United States’ homeland security adviser, stated on Monday that the WannaCry cyber-attack is currently “under control”, but the malware that came with this attack is an “extremely serious threat”, able to lead to similar attacks in the future.  While many reacted to this incident by pointing fingers at one another, others stepped up to the cause and acted bravely in order to ease threats during this time of peril—Marcus Hutchins along with many others displayed their initiative to help during a time of need and showed that “not all heroes wear capes”.