IBM Security: Perspective on the Recent “Petya” Cyberattacks

What is the Petya Ransomware campaign? A calculated ransomware campaign with a heavy footprint in Ukraine was detected on June 27, 2017. The source of the attack is currently unknown. To date, the attack has affected global organizations in the banking, pharmaceutical and transportation industries.

Most reports, and the ransom demand itself, refer to the activity as Petya, a well- known malware that has existed for quite some time, but at least one security company believes it is not a true Petya variant. IBM can confirm the ransomware tool is spreading via the National Security Agency (NSA) exploit ETERNALBLUE, similar to the WannaCry events last month.

IBM Security: Perspective on the Global “WannaCry2” Cyberattacks Hitting Critical Infrastructure

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What is WannaCry2? A rapidly spreading cyberattack that was first detected in March and has impacted businesses in nearly 100 countries. Currently, the source of the attack is unknown. The WannaCry2 attacks have crippled critical infrastructure, including hospitals, telecommunications and distribution/supply chain services.

The scale of this attack was possible because of a vulnerability in the Microsoft Windows Operating System. Although it began like any routine phishing scheme – in which a user clicks on a bad link and malware takes over – WannaCry2’s exploitation of the Windows vulnerability enabled it to spread with great speed from one workstation to a network of users. As a result, it was an attack of one-to-many versus standard phishing attacks, which typically infect one user at a time. While the attack appears disabled now, we expect hackers to reanimate it rapidly, and organizations need to prepare fast.