A former senior National Security Agency official who consults with the agency told NBC News that it's true, as cybersecurity researchers report, that the WannaCry ransomware epidemic is the result of a software vulnerability identified and stockpiled by the NSA. And it became public when it leaked as part of the Shadow Brokers disclosures.
The NSA releases 90 to 95 percent of the software vulnerabilities it discovers, he said, but it sits on the rest for use in hacking and spying activities. In other words, it doesn't tell Americans about software holes that make them vulnerable -- so it can exploit those weaknesses to spy on foreigners.
In this case, after the leak, the NSA warned Microsoft and other companies, the official said. Microsoft released a patch in March.
But not everybody patches, and those running outdated systems may not even be able to.
The former official said some people would like the NSA to alert industry to every software hole it finds. But then, he said, the NSA would lose intelligence collection. And hackers would still find holes to exploit, because such holes are inevitable.
That said, he praised a new system in the UK, where spies sit with private researchers and share vulnerabilities in real time. That doesn't mean the Brits don't keep some secret, he added.
He sees a Russian hand in the Shadow Brokers disclosures, which would be ironic if true. Russia has suffered heavily from the ransomware attack because it uses pirated and outdated software.
yummybear on May 20th, 2017 at 15:41 UTC »
If a medium range missile needs to reach 2000 km altitude to have a range of 800 km (iirc) what kind of trajectory would an ICBM need to have?
AFruitShopOwner on May 20th, 2017 at 15:39 UTC »
Next thing you know they will be landing them spacex style
senfgurke on May 20th, 2017 at 14:19 UTC »
No, that was a different type of missile. They are confusing two vastly different missiles which both have been called "KN-17." The tests in April were of a short to medium range Scud-derivative with a maneuvering reentry vehicle that may be intended for an anti-ship role.
The missile tested last week was a whole different beast, namely an intermediate-range ballistic missile with a range of over 2,800 miles, showing design similarities with the KN-08 ICBM prototype. The media should just go with the Hwasong-12 designation most experts are using.
Edit: According to /r/redaegari, this is incorrect and the "KN-17" is solely used for the KN-08 derivative by US officials. The misuse of the designation, which even has many experts like Jeffrey Lewis and John Schilling confused, was due to an incorrect statement by an anonymous official. They also say that the US considers the April tests to be of the KN-08 derivative, not the unrelated Scud-variant which has mistakenly been designated as "KN-17."