Europol will not cry foul, but North Korea suspected of cyberattack

The European police agency says it is too early to determine who was behind a huge cyberattack after researchers reported signs of a possible North Korean link.

“We are open to investigate in all directions, but we don’t speculate and we cannot confirm this. It’s still too early to say anything,” senior spokesman for Europol, Jan Op Gen Oorth, said on Tuesday.

“We are working on it. The investigation is ongoing. It could come from everywhere, it could come from any country.”

On Tuesday, researchers investigating the huge cyberattack campaign, which has caused global computer chaos, reported signs of a possible North Korean link, with one expert warning there could be more to come.

In the first clues of the origin of the huge ransomware attacks, Google researcher Neel Mehta posted computer code that showed similarities between the WannaCry malware and a vast hacking effort widely attributed to Pyongyang.

In signs that the attack is slowing, Europol said the number of affected IP addresses around the world was 163,745 — a 38% fall from the 226,000 reported on Sunday. The attack blocks computers and puts up images on victims’ screens demanding payment of $300 in the virtual currency bitcoin.

Europol said about 243 payments totalling $63,000 had been made since the attack was launched late on Friday.

Dutch cyberspy chief Rob Bertholee refused to be drawn on the identity of the attackers.

The Netherlands had already fingered Pyongyang as a possible threat to its national digital systems, he said at a top cybersecurity conference being held in The Hague.

“Every state actor could be an actor in cyberspace. But we are specifically worried about a limited number of state actors.”

He listed Russia, China and Iran as “favourites”.

“And I think we might have a very capable adversary in North Korea as well,” he added.

He also warned that with the world’s infrastructure heavily interconnected, there were increasing vulnerabilities.

“We might be closer to a serious act of digital sabotage than a lot of people can imagine,” he warned. Sabotage of the world’s transport, banking or energy sectors “could have major public repercussions, causing unrest, chaos and disorder”.