Last month a global cyber-attack "crippled the NHS" according to the Telegraph newspaper. It was reported to be "the biggest ransomware outbreak in history". But the crucial question to be asked is, who was behind the attacks? I will be focusing on the UK here.
What happened?
How the scheme worked was that ransom demands were made by the hackers in return for the computers to be unlocked. In the UK, there was a massive fear that the attack on the NHS would cost lives. As hospitals were left vulnerable and the fear of further attacks gaining momentum, certain questions were being asked.
First of all, how was this allowed to happen? The main issue was that, despite difficult to stop, the computer systems being used by the NHS were "antiquated".
Who was behind the attack?
However, the biggest question that was raised was, who was behind the attack? In the last few days it was revealed that the British security figures believe that hackers in North Korea were behind the incident that took place. It is thought that a hacking group known as 'Lazarus' according to the BBC launched the attack. Although the group is based in North Korea, it is not clear the role of the leadership in Pyongyang orchestrating what happened. But what is known is that North Korean hackers have been linked to money-making attacks in the past.
The theft of $81 million of a bank in Bangladesh in 2016 for example.
And now?
The next issue to discuss is, where do we go from here? Whilst the NHS IT systems do need to be modernised, the fact that the security officials believe they know who was behind the attack can lead to further investigation to essentially ensure that this never happens again.