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IGI Global contributors express their thoughts on recent massive cyber-attack

Petya Ransomware: Second Major Cyberattack in Two Months

By Alex Johnson on Jul 28, 2017
tablet, technology, creativity It is safe to say we won’t be in the clear anytime soon, but who would’ve thought just a little over a month since the first major cyberattack (WannaCry) came out, a second more brooding virus would overtake the cybersecurity world. The latest attack, nicknamed Petya, used similar code and even the same software vulnerability, but unfortunately for many, this was where the similarities seemed to end.

This second, more sinister attack, appeared to have a specific target this time around, namely, Ukraine. In late June, the attack spread like wildfire in a slew of different countries, infecting many big name companies from the United States, Europe and Russia. It seems that the initial outbreak was caused by a malicious update prompt within a widely used accounting program in the Ukraine known as M.E. Docs. According to the deputy head of Ukraine’s presidential administration, the servers for this particular program were not updated for the past few years, which left them an easy target to infect. Though this was not the first time a virus was unleashed under the guise of a software update, it certainly is one of the largest and most disruptive attacks we have seen thus far. What made it even more damaging in comparison to the prior WannaCry attack was the Petya virus not only seemingly locked away information from the intended users (as ransomware typically does), it went a step farther and destroyed any files on a computer sharing the same infected network. This means that once an individual was locked out of an infected computer, even if they were to pay the Bitcoin ransom, there would be no guarantee they could recover 100% of the compromised files. On top of this, it seems the party behind this attack had no intention of offering up the decryption key as the email address provided to receive any ransom payments was quickly disabled by the email provider upon discovery of what it was being used for. All of this leads to the very ominous question: If Petya was not meant to be strictly a ransomware operation, what were the ulterior motives for the attack?

Dr. Emily Stacey, a political science professor at both Rose State and Oklahoma City Community College, and Professor Maximiliano Korstanje, associate professor at the University of Palermo in Argentina, shared their thoughts on the incident.

"Nowadays, the ransomware is being replicated faster and in a more complex way which makes it very hard for specialists to detect. This is a big problem which requires big solutions,” reports Prof. Korstanje.

Dr. Stacey furthers this sentiment mentioning, “… a more thorough and targeted version of WannaCry was likely to happen, so it was not a surprise that interested parties are attempting to exploit vulnerabilities in software and hold industries, companies, services, and individuals hostage in terms of data.”

When asked if she thought there was any possible connection between the two cyberattacks, Dr. Stacey offered this unique perspective: “Do I believe the same people were responsible for both attacks? It is unlikely. But that is not to say that the Petya hackers were not inspired by what most deemed the epic failure and design flaws of WannaCry. The Petya attack coming so soon off of WannaCry … feels like a hacker competition.” She then continues, “It will not be long until the astute international hacker community hones the pre-established code that has been developed by government agencies like the NSA and use them for their agendas, whatever that may be. The danger of attacks like this will get ever-closer to us, in the U.S, and to us individually… This is only the beginning, and with each attack the code gets more sophisticated and dangerous.”

When asked about predictions for future cyber-attacks, Prof. Korstanje and Dr. Stacey provide unsettling answers.

Prof. Korstanje: "I feel many of these kind of viruses [and attacks] will undoubtedly appear in the near future."

Dr. Stacey: “These are minor attacks that test the vulnerability of various infrastructures and networks, it feels like preparation for a much larger scale attack, that we do not seem quite prepared to handle.”

The overall damage of the Petya attack was experienced in about 60 countries total, significantly less than the 100+ countries WannaCry rippled through. Despite this, the Petya attack feels more and more like a step further down the rabbit hole. Even in the weeks after the initial attack, many large companies are still dealing with the aftermath and disruptions Petya caused, from service delays to projected loss of revenues. To add insult to injury, the culprit[s] continue to remain at large.

Dr. Stacey urges, “The most important thing is to ensure you always update/download the latest patches when they come out, don't wait. There will always be hackers and malware out there to exploit anything showing vulnerability so it is important to be cognizant on security updates and staying alert.”

“[A]void any insecure webpage which may transmit viruses or malware,” adds Professor Korstanje, while emphasizing the always important recommendation to “regularly backup copies of all your work on pen drives or other devices.” A sincere thanks to Dr. Emily Stacey, and Professor Maximiliano Korstanje for taking the time to share their thoughts on the Petya attack. For more information on the topic of cybersecurity and threats, please take the time to review the related publications below:
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