A massive cyberattack, the largest in history, occurred last week. The assault infected computer networks around the world, its perpetrators unknown and its purpose uncertain, although it may have been nothing more than an attempt to extract money from its victims. By the weekend, the incident appears to have been contained, although experts warn that the next attack is likely to have already been launched, its targets infiltrated and it is only awaiting commands to begin.
Last week's attack involved ransomware, malicious code that is introduced into computers and upon a signal encrypts files on the machine until payment is made, typically to an anonymous bitcoin account. If the ransom is not paid, the files are destroyed. In this case, the ransom was relatively small, $300 at first, but the amount doubled if payment was not made immediately.
This attack used malware called "WannaCry" (sometimes called Wcry), and it infected more than 100,000 computers in over 150 countries, ranging from Brazil to Ukraine; no part of the world was untouched. Among the hardest hit countries were Ukraine and Russia, which reported over 1,000 computers infected in its Interior Ministry. Victims ranged from the mundane — a Norwegian soccer club lost its ticket-selling website — to the essential: The British National Health System lost use of digital services throughout many of its hospitals, slowing routine procedures like processing payments and imperiling patients by locking out access to records. Chinese secondary schools and universities were affected, manufacturing facilities in France and Slovenia were forced to shut down, parts of the FedEx computer network were impacted, as were networks in Brazil's national petrochemical country as well as its court system and foreign ministry.