Researchers build WannaCry decryption tools for Windows XP

Windows XP users have a chance to decrypt WannaCry and save their files from oblivion.

Less than a week after the WannaCry ransomware rapidly spread across the world, a French security researcher released a tool on Thursday that gives Windows XP users a chance to decrypt and save their files from oblivion.

Adrien Guinet created WannaKey that generates an RSA private key which can be used in combination with WanaFork to decrypt the files. It requires a bit of luck — that the memory hasn’t been reallocated and erased — but can be a potential file saver for those who meet the requirements. Make sure to read the program’s instructions and warnings closely before usage.

Windows XP, a 16-year-old officially unsupported operating system still in wide use around the world, was hit hard by WannaCry because the malware utilized exploits that had been patched months prior on supported operating systems like Windows 10. Shortly after WannaCry began to spread, Microsoft issued a Windows XP patch to prevent further damage.

Any solutions that come down the pipe are too late for at least some victims. Close surveillance of several bitcoin wallets associated with the WannaCry ransomware shows over $80,000 in ransom has been paid from nearly 300 victims. That’s an infinitesimal fraction of the reported 300,000 infected machines in 150 countries. It’s not clear that accounts for all the money paid in WannaCry ransom so far.

What is clear, however, is that it’s going to be extremely difficult for the hackers to move and use the money because it’s attracted so much attention from law enforcement and just about every cybersecurity company on the planet. Bitcoin’s public blockchain is ripe for surveillance if and when the hackers move the money.

Despite the widespread demand for a decrpytor, there is no panacea available for what was quickly now recognized as the most damaging ransomware attack in history.

Government

• FBI officials say AI is bolstering adversaries, emphasizing need to focus on cyber basics, patching

• Feds accuse China of ‘systematic’ distillation of U.S. AI models

• CIA’s Michael Ellis says cyber intelligence is changing how the agency operates

• Jail time for Maine child in 764 marks turning point in federal law enforcement

Technology

• FCC proposes public scorecard to rate telecoms on anti-robocall efforts

• Pegasus, NoviSpy variant spyware found on devices of Serbian activists

• Wyden seeks upgraded NSA security guidance on commercial VPN use

• The Collective Cyber Defense letter wrote your next vendor questionnaire

Threats

• Microsoft discloses two actively exploited zero-days among 974 vulnerabilities

• Russian national extradited to US for alleged involvement in bank-account takeover scheme

• Attackers exploit zero-days in consistently besieged SonicWall product

• Dogged Russia-based botnet dismantled after 23-year run

Policy

• Whistleblower says USPS deploying new, ‘untested’ IT systems governing mail-in ballots

• ‘Watershed 250’ test program in Texas looks to private sector for water cybersecurity help

• Former sexual abuse victims say Grok used their images, videos to train deepfake capabilities

• Cyber threats nudge Trump to sign executive order on foreign equipment in U.S. energy infrastructure