How Mexico’s CJNG Drug Cartel Leveraged AI, Drones, and Social Media

Petya Ransomware’s Global Surge Mirrors WannaCry Outbreak

June 27, 2017

Warning: A new wave of ransomware is here, reminiscent of WannaCry! The notorious WannaCry ransomware is far from over as another massive attack is wreaking havoc across the globe, disrupting operations in corporations, power supplies, and banks in nations including Russia, Ukraine, Spain, France, the UK, India, and various parts of Europe, demanding $300 in Bitcoin. Reports indicate that a new variant of Petya ransomware, also referred to as Petwrap, is rapidly proliferating, exploiting the same Windows SMBv1 vulnerability that WannaCry used to compromise 300,000 systems in just 72 hours last month. Alarmingly, many victims have reported that even their patched systems have fallen prey to Petya ransomware. “Petya utilizes the NSA EternalBlue exploit and also propagates within internal networks via WMIC and PSExec, which is why even patched systems can be affected,” confirms Mikko Hyppönen, Chief Research Officer at F-Secure. Petya is proving to be a serious threat…