WannaCry Ransomware Attack Linked To China, Not Russia Or North Korea

A few weeks ago, in what was described as one of the “worst-ever recorded attacks of its kind,” the WannaCry ransomware virus spread the globe at an alarming rate, seizing control of private networks and demanding bitcoin payments to relinquish that control. As we pointed out then, and not terribly surprisingly, those pesky “Russian hackers,” the same ones that lay relatively dormant for years then suddenly emerged from hibernation in 2016 to hack the DNC, John Podesta and the entire 2016 U. S. presidential election, were initially considered to be the most likely culprits for the WannaCry virus.
Finally, there is the question who is behind this coordinated global attack. Not surprisingly, Russia has been named. There is a high-probability that Russian-language cyber-criminals were behind the attack, said Aleks Gostev, chief cybersecurity expert for Kaspersky Labs. ‘Ransomware is traditionally their topic,’ he said cited by Bloomberg. ‘The geography of attacks that hit post-Soviet Union most also suggests that.’
But, while blaming the Russians was undoubtedly the most convenient solution for advancing the mainstream media’s “Russian hacking” narrative, like much of what has been reported over the past 6 months, it may have not been grounded in reality and/or supported by facts. As the BBC reports today, new analysis from Flashpoint suggests that the WannaCry virus may have instead emerged from China.

This post was published at Zero Hedge on May 30, 2017.