Pyongyang was behind the WannaCry computer hack that impacted nearly a quarter-million computers in 150 countries worldwide, Microsoft President Brad Smith claimed in an interview this week.
"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," told ITV News, adding that he believes the conclusion with "great confidence."
Smith said North Korea had been widely suspected in the May cyberattack, but ITV noted that the interview with him at Microsoft's Washington headquarters marked the first time a company executive has blamed North Korea leader Kim Jong Un's administration publicly.
According to Smith, such attacks are becoming more severe and more often, and as technology grows, there is more risk that public services and elections will be targeted by state nations' hacks.
"We need governments to come together as they did in Geneva in 1949 and adopt a new digital Geneva Convention that makes clear that these cyber-attacks against civilians, especially in times of peace, are off-limits and a violation of international law," said Smith.
Microsoft came under criticism after the attacks when it was learned that the WannaCry malware virus hit computers still using the outdated Windows XP software, a version no longer supported by Microsoft.
However, Smith told ITV that Microsoft provides patches for all versions of Windows when there is an attack like WannaCry, but still warned about using outdated services like XP.
"We virtually pleaded with people 'please don't rely on software that now belongs in a museum,'" Smith told ITV.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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