Trump administration blames WannaCry cyber attack on North Korea

(Image credit: Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

last updated 19 December 2017

Seven months after the WannaCry cyber attack infected more than 300,000 computers in 150 countries, the United States says it knows who was behind it: North Korea.

In an op-ed published in The Wall Street Journal on Monday night, President Trump's Homeland Security Adviser Tom Bossert said the attack was "widespread and cost billions, and North Korea is directly responsible. North Korea has acted especially badly, largely unchecked, for more than a decade, and its malicious behavior is growing more egregious. WannaCry was indiscriminately reckless."

North Korea has denied being responsible for WannaCry, which targeted banks, hospitals, and big businesses, including FedEx. A White House official told Reuters the government has a "very high level of confidence" that a hacking entity called Lazarus Group, which is known to work for the North Korean government, conducted the attack, and the Trump administration is expected to release a formal statement blaming Pyongyang on Tuesday.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.