An alleged NSA hacking tool has again surfaced to haunt the world.
Organizations across the globe — including Boryspil International in Kiev, Ukraine, a Russian oil company and an advertising company in the United Kingdom — have stalled out on Tuesday as a type of ransomware known as Petya has locked up their computers, demanding bitcoin in exchange for the return of those computers' functionality.
The tool the ransomware uses to get inside computers is called Eternal Blue, and it's more of an exploit than a tool. Leaked by a group (or person) known as the Shadow Brokers back in April, Eternal Blue is an exploit that finds a way into the transport protocols (think file sharing mechanisms and such) of computers running Windows that haven't been patched in a few months. It's proven to be a key ingredient for hackers looking to access a lot of Windows machines. Read more...
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