The Nhs Cyber Attack

[horseshoes]

Not knowing the first thing about how they have made this attack, please give me your views.

A) could it possibly be a 15 year old in his bedroom acting alone, or does it have to be more sophisticated?
B) will anyone pay the ransom and if they don't, what will happen?
C) how easy would it be to find out WHERE the attack originated from?
D) how severe would the punishment be if they found the culprit?

[DTCwordfan]

the Welsh hossies probably don't have computers yet, togo.....

[tonyav]

Not just the NHS affected.
http://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/nissan-and-renault-latest-firms-to-be-hit-in-cyber-attack/ar-BBB5i6f?li=BBoPRmx

[Togo]

My gag on a different site was that the internet was to slow to upload the virus in Wales DT :))

[TTG]

Seems to me this has come about because no-one has explained properly to the "bean counters" what could happen if they carried on using Windows XP in a business environment. The "techies" probably used a million different words to try and explain when just a few simple sentences would have sufficed.

[EDDIE51]

To answer point B of your question, it is estimated that over £23,000 has already been paid in 'Bitcoin'.
C. It is extremely difficult to pinpoint where the attack originated
D Depends on where the originators of the attack are and IF the location is ever identified for certain. It will be extraordinarily difficult to get proof of who they are.

[EDDIE51]

What we can now expect will be a demand by the NHS for extra £millions to upgrade their computer systems. It has to be done , but I bet when it is we get lots of complaints about 'more waste of money by the NHS'

[mikey4444]

You bet Eddie !....our NHS detractors are already sharpening their pencils as we speak !

" the NHS doesn't need more money ( or 40,000 new Nurses) ...it just needs to be more efficient " and such like !

[EDDIE51]

It would be a nice gesture and get them loads of good publicity if Microsoft was to offer a free upgrade for any NHS computer that was still on XP !
Come on Microsoft how about it?

[mikey4444]

Not affected yet Togo....perhaps it will be another story on Monday morning...lets hope not !

[Togo]

Didn't the NHS waste millions on a computer network that was not fit for purpose? Seem to remember that. Why are they not getting GCHQ to oversee the NHS computer system. If that is not National security I don't know what is.

[Togo]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2040259/NHS-IT-project-failure-Labours-12bn-scheme-scrapped.html

There you go. Thought so.

[sunny-dave]

To answer part D of the OP :

It's not going to be easy to find the perpetrators, but I reckon (given the involvement of major governments) it will be possible.

If I'd done it (I didn't), I'd be absolutely scared witless now - attacking the Russian State on this level is not clever.

If Mr Putin does find out who did it (either via his own resources or via info sharing with the West) I don't think he'll be messing around with 'due process of law'.

It'll be some nasty men using big guns "pour encourager les autres" ...

[-Talbot-]

Bitcoin ransoms totalling up to '$23,000' have already 'allegedly' been paid.

[sunny-dave]

If I was a a Government trying to find the hackers, I think a controlled dribble of smallish 'ransom' payments might be something I used to aid my search?

[Togo]

The transfer of Bitcoin cannot be traced. It is done through the tor programme, an onion ring set up that is virtually impossible to track.

[Candy4u]

Recently the WannaCry ransomware attack wreaked havoc across the globe and hit more than 200,000 victims across 150 countries. It spread rapidly on Friday, May 12, 2017 by exploiting a vulnerability contained in the NSA leak. Many unpatched Windows systems were infected with this malware and users’ files were encrypted and became inaccessible.
While there is no clear fix for WannaCry, experts highly recommend you not pay to get your data back.

While it may be tempting to fork over the $300 ransom to make the problem go away the FBI, Department of Justice and many tech firms suggest you don't. One reason is that you're basically giving money to criminals, who may choose not to demand even more from you or potentially re-target you in the future since you've indicated you're willing to pay them in the first place.
The articles below show more details about this ranomware attack:
https://www.wired.com/2017/05/wannacry-flaw-help-windows-xp-victims-get-files-back/
https://www.cnet.com/news/wannacry-wannacrypt-uiwix-ransomware-everything-you-need-to-know/
http://guides.uufix.com/how-to-remove-wannacry-ransomware-and-recover-files/
http://www.pcworld.com/article/3169524/security/how-to-remove-ransomware-use-this-battle-plan-to-fight-back.html