North Korea stole cyber weapons from US, claims Microsoft chief

NORTH KOREA was behind the Wannacry attack that crippled the NHS after stealing US cyber weapons, the head of Microsoft has claimed.

The cyber attack in May was the largest in NHS history and put lives under threat as hundreds of operations were cancelled.

It led to ambulances being diverted as up to 40 hospital trusts became infected by a “ransomware” attack demanding payment to regain access to vital medical records. The president of Microsoft, Brad Smith, said that the government of North Korea was responsible for the attack.

Mr Smith said he believed “with great confidence” that Pyongyang was behind the hack which hit 200,000 computers in 150 countries.

“I think at this point that all observers in the know have concluded that Wannacry was caused by North Korea using cyber tools or weapons that were stolen from the National Security Agency in the United States,” he said.

Mr Smith said cyber-attacks by nation states have become more frequent and more severe. He said : “I think over last six months we’ve seen threats come to life, unfortunately, in new and more serious way. The problem has become bigger.”

Mr Smith added he believed that as societies become more reliant on technology the risk increased that vital public services and elections would be targeted by state-sponsored hacks and called on governments to do more to protect their citizens from harm.

“We need governments to come together as they did in Geneva in 1949 and adopt a new Digital Geneva Convention that makes clear these cyberattacks against civilians, especially in times of peace, are off-limits and a violation of international law,” he said.

Shortly after the Wannacry attack Microsoft itself faced criticism. Many of the NHS hospitals affected by the malware virus were using XP, an older version of Windows, which Microsoft had decided to stop supporting.

Microsoft XP is 17 years old but one in 20 of the NHS’S thousands of computers – five per cent of the total – are still fitted with the programme.

The attack meant that vital equipment such as MRI scanners and X-ray machines had to be taken offline across the country as they could not be repaired immediately.

Mr Smith acknowledged that hospital budgets were tight but insisted greater priority needed to be given to upgrading IT systems.

He said: “When hospitals think about the equipment that is critical to protecting their patients they’ve got to think not only about the beds. Computers play a fundamental role in the delivery of healthcare and patients shouldn’t have to rely on healthcare based on an old computer.”

Microsoft has developed anti-viral software to protect users from hacks, t and is also attempting to spot and disrupt cyber-attacks through its Digital Crimes Unit.