> WASHINGTON > > Cybersecurity experts believe the hacker who leaked the potent > software tool that powered last week’s global ransomware attacks is an > American – perhaps a disgruntled insider in the U.S. intelligence > community. > > Such a finding would raise the stakes for halting The Shadow Brokers > group, which has bedeviled the National Security Agency with releases > of its hacked weaponized cyber exploits for months. > > One of those leaked NSA tools allowed extortionists to spark havoc > last Friday by encrypting the hard drives of more than 200,000 > computers in 150 countries, the largest such cyberattack ever to hit > the globe. The attackers demanded $300 or more to unlock each computer. > > The NSA did not respond to a request for comment. > > The Shadow Brokers group first surfaced last August, claiming to have > breached the NSA and stolen sophisticated cyber tools. It sought to > auction off the NSA exploits but failed to find many buyers, releasing > some for free. It periodically has resurfaced with statements. > > The latest statement came at 2:16 a.m. Tuesday, a long, rambling > screed that used broken syntax to make it seem as if it were written > by a foreigner with poor English. But the message was filled with U.S. > cultural references that experts said were likely to have come only > from someone with a native’s familiarity. > > “I think they are Americans, and I think they are inside somewhere,” > said Dave Aitel, chief executive at Immunity, a Miami cybersecurity > company, who formerly was a chief scientist at the NSA. “Some of the > idioms they use are straight up native. You have to be a native to use > them.” > > Domestic cultural and political references fill the 1,100-word > statement, which carries the headline: “OH LORDY! Comey Wanna Cry > Edition.” > > In addition to references to James Comey, the ousted FBI director, and > the WannaCry ransomware that the extortionists deployed last Friday, > the statement made liberal use of idioms like “BFF” – or “best friends > forever” – and a vulgar expression that “Late Show” host Stephen > Colbert employed May 1 in talking about President Donald Trump. >
With links @McClatchy: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/national-security/article150827507.html