UK blames North Korea for WannaCry NHS hack

The UK blames North Korea for the WannaCry malware attack that crippled the NHS system and struck more than 300,000 computer systems in 150 countries, the UK Security Minister said today.

Ben Wallace told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the Government believes a North Korean hacking group was responsible for the attack, in May. He said that arresting any suspects would be “challenging” as a “hostile state” was involved, The Independent reports.

“I obviously can’t go into the detail of intelligence, but it is widely believed in the community and across a number of countries that North Korea had taken this role,” Wallace said.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The Government’s revelation came as the National Audit Office released a damning report on NHS cybersecurity standards, telling the health service to “get its act together” or risk suffering an even bigger attack. NHS bodies were warned as early as 2014 that their systems were vulnerable to hackers, according to a report in The Daily Telegraph.

The WannaCry cyberattack targeted computers with outdated security, infecting encrypted data to cripple organisations worldwide - from government agencies to global companies. At least 6,900 NHS appointments were cancelled as a result, 139 of which were urgent referrals for people who potentially had cancer, says the BBC.

An earlier independent investigation found that the NHS cyberattack could have been prevented if basic IT security measures had been taken, says The Independent.

The hackers demanded a ransome of $300 (£229) for each computer, payable in the virtual currency Bitcoin, to unlock files and return them to the user. A BBC investigation in mid-May involving three Bitcoin accounts linked to the attack suggested the hackers had been paid the equivalent of £22,080.