Secret Military Code Breaking Project Ends Up On The Internet

[rgray222]

NYU ACCIDENTALLY EXPOSED MILITARY CODE-BREAKING COMPUTER PROJECT TO ENTIRE INTERNET

theintercept.com (https://theintercept.com/2017/05/11/nyu-accidentally-exposed-military-code-breaking-computer-project-to-entire-internet/)

IN EARLY DECEMBER 2016, Adam was doing what he’s always doing, somewhere between hobby and profession: looking for things that are on the internet that shouldn’t be. That week, he came across a server inside New York University’s famed Institute for Mathematics and Advanced Supercomputing, headed by the brilliant Chudnovsky brothers, David and Gregory. The server appeared to be an internet-connected backup drive. But instead of being filled with family photos and spreadsheets, this drive held confidential information on an advanced code-breaking machine that had never before been described in public. Dozens of documents spanning hundreds of pages detailed the project, a joint supercomputing initiative administered by NYU, the Department of Defense, and IBM. And they were available for the entire world to download.

Source (https://theintercept.com/2017/05/11/nyu-accidentally-exposed-military-code-breaking-computer-project-to-entire-internet/)

[Kryztian]

And also courtesy of the Intercept, another story of NSA deviousness and incompetence. A piece of malware was devised and then accidentally got into the hands of a hacker who came up with this awful disturbance:


In mid-April, an arsenal of powerful software tools apparently designed by the NSA to infect and control Windows computers was leaked by an entity known only as the “Shadow Brokers.” Not even a whole month later, the hypothetical threat that criminals would use the tools against the general public has become real, and tens of thousands of computers worldwide are now crippled by an unknown party demanding ransom.

The malware worm taking over the computers goes by the names “WannaCry” or “Wanna Decryptor.” It spreads from machine to machine silently and remains invisible to users until it unveils itself as so-called ransomware, telling users all their files have been encrypted with a key known only to the attacker and that they will be locked out of the files until they pay $300 to an anonymous party using the cryptocurrency Bitcoin. The ransom rises to $600 after a few days; at some point thereafter, if no ransom is paid, the user’s files are deleted. The hackers have provided a handy countdown clock to let victims know exactly how much time they have left.

The rest of the story can be read here:
https://theintercept.com/2017/05/12/the-nsas-lost-digital-weapon-is-helping-hijack-computers-around-the-world/ (https://theintercept.com/2017/05/12/the-nsas-lost-digital-weapon-is-helping-hijack-computers-around-the-world/)

[Hervé]

And also courtesy of the Intercept, another story of NSA deviousness and incompetence. A piece of malware was devised and then accidentally got into the hands of a hacker who came up with this awful disturbance:


In mid-April, an arsenal of powerful software tools apparently designed by the NSA to infect and control Windows computers was leaked by an entity known only as the “Shadow Brokers.” Not even a whole month later, the hypothetical threat that criminals would use the tools against the general public has become real, and tens of thousands of computers worldwide are now crippled by an unknown party demanding ransom.

The malware worm taking over the computers goes by the names “WannaCry” or “Wanna Decryptor.” It spreads from machine to machine silently and remains invisible to users until it unveils itself as so-called ransomware, telling users all their files have been encrypted with a key known only to the attacker and that they will be locked out of the files until they pay $300 to an anonymous party using the cryptocurrency Bitcoin. The ransom rises to $600 after a few days; at some point thereafter, if no ransom is paid, the user’s files are deleted. The hackers have provided a handy countdown clock to let victims know exactly how much time they have left.

The rest of the story can be read here:
https://theintercept.com/2017/05/12/the-nsas-lost-digital-weapon-is-helping-hijack-computers-around-the-world/ (https://theintercept.com/2017/05/12/the-nsas-lost-digital-weapon-is-helping-hijack-computers-around-the-world/)
See this thread: Ransomware Attack - Worldwide (12 May 2017) (http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?97669-Ransomware-Attack-Worldwide--12-May-2017-&p=1152378#post1152378)