Attack Targets: Attack and Cry

attack targets: Following the detection of the Wanna Cry attack on Friday, researchers at Proofpoint discovered a new attack linked to Wanna Cry called Adylkuzz, said Nicolas Godier, a researcher at the computer security firm, according to The Japan Times. It uses the hacking tools recently disclosed by the NSA and which have since been fixed by Microsoft in a more stealthy manner and for a different purpose, he said. The new attack targets the same vulnerabilities the Wanna Cry ransomware worm exploited but, rather than freeze files, uses the hundreds of thousands of computers believed to have been infected to mine virtual currency. Instead of completely disabling an infected computer by encrypting data and seeking a ransom payment, Adylkuzz uses the machines it infects to mine in a background task a virtual currency, Monero, and transfer the money created to the authors of the virus. They are said to mine for the currency and are occasionally rewarded with a piece of it. Virtual currencies such as Monero and Bitcoin use the computers of volunteers to record transactions. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.