Uzbekistan Bans 34 Video Games; North Korea Reinvents the ‘iPad’

Posted May 31st, 2017 at 2:07 pm (UTC-4)
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Today’s Tech Sightings:

FILE - People stand near 'Sims 4' game characters on a wall during the 2014 Electronic Entertainment Expo, known as E3, in Los Angeles, California June 11, 2014. (Reuters)

FILE – People stand near ‘Sims 4’ game characters on a wall during the 2014 Electronic Entertainment Expo, known as E3, in Los Angeles, California, June 11, 2014. (Reuters)

Uzbekistan Bans 34 Games, Including The Sims 3 and 4, for ‘Distorting Values’

The Central Asian nation of Uzbekistan has banned The Sims video simulation game, among a growing list of video games deemed bad for the country’s values. The list also includes Mass Effect and Call of Duty: Black Ops, among others. Writer Rob Thubron suggests banning the Sims – virtual interactive families and individual characters controlled by players – might have something to do with the game’s depiction of same-sex relationships. Uzbek authorities say the games could be used “to propagate violence, pornography, threaten security and social and political stability,” among other reservations.

Berlin Court Rules Parents Have No Right to Dead Daughter’s Facebook Account

The parents of a 15-year-old girl who reportedly was struck by a Berlin subway train have been trying to gain access to her Facebook account to determine if she had committed suicide. But a German appeals court overturned an earlier lower court order that gave them permission to access the account. Facebook had appealed the lower court ruling, arguing that giving the parents access would endanger the privacy of the girl’s Facebook contacts.

North Korea Reinvents the ‘iPad’ – Again

North Korean state-owned tech company, Myohyang IT, has just announced it is developing a new tablet – and it’s calling it the ‘Ryonghung iPad.’  The iPad, if you have not been paying attention, is developed by U.S. tech firm Apple. The tech giant has not commented yet on this trademark violation, although this is not the first time North Korea blatantly clones its products.

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Aida Akl
Aida Akl is a journalist working on VOA's English Webdesk. She has written on a wide range of topics, although her more recent contributions have focused on technology. She has covered both domestic and international events since the mid-1980s as a VOA reporter and international broadcaster.

Getting ‘Personal’ With Google Search; Germany Unveils Robot Priest

Posted May 30th, 2017 at 12:54 pm (UTC-4)
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Today’s Tech Sightings:

FILE - A computer user poses in front of a Google search page in this photo illustration taken in Brussels, Belgium. (Reuters)

FILE – A computer user poses in front of a Google search page in this photo illustration taken in Brussels, Belgium. (Reuters)

Google Search Just Got a Lot More Personal

If you are using any of Google’s products, then everything you do is being tracked so advertisers can pay big money for your data.  But the information also allows Google to personalize your search. A new “Personal” tab in the search menu shows you results based on words you use in Google Photos, Calendar and Gmail. If you don’t fancy being tracked to this level of detail, you can adjust search settings to prevent the use of private data.

​Android Creator Andy Rubin Wants Essential Phone to Fix ‘Weird World’

Former Googler and Android creator Andy Rubin holds himself partly responsible for helping create a “weird new world where people are forced to fight with the very technology that was supposed to simplify their lives.” His new Essential Phone, unveiled Tuesday, is a modular device with clip-on parts, and its screen extends to both side edges and the top. But the phone is noteworthy because of its ‘modular’ feature. Google tried its hand with modular devices for a while with Project Ara, but later abandoned the effort.

Robot Priest Unveiled in Germany to Mark 500 Years Since Reformation

Germany’s small town of Wittenberg is celebrating the birth of the Reformation movement that started 500 years ago when Martin Luther King called for church reform in Europe. Marking the occasion is BlessU-2, a robot priest on exhibition that dispenses blessings in five languages and emits light from its hands. Appropriately, Blessu-2’s mission is to challenge Europe’s religious institution once more, raising questions about its future in the age of artificial intelligence.

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Aida Akl
Aida Akl is a journalist working on VOA's English Webdesk. She has written on a wide range of topics, although her more recent contributions have focused on technology. She has covered both domestic and international events since the mid-1980s as a VOA reporter and international broadcaster.

Tech Giants Tap Into Autism Community for Fresh Talent

Posted May 26th, 2017 at 1:30 am (UTC-4)
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Software engineer, Philip Jarvis, who has Asperger's Syndrome, works on Microsoft's HoloLens mixed-reality device at Redmond, Washington. (Microsoft © Brian Smale)

Software engineer, Philip Jarvis, who has Asperger’s Syndrome, works on Microsoft’s HoloLens mixed-reality device at Redmond, Washington. (Microsoft © Brian Smale)

One percent of the world’s population is on the Autism Spectrum Disorder, a group of complex brain development disabilities. Most are unemployed or under-employed. But several tech companies are now actively courting autistic workers for their unique skills, particularly suited for computing.

Adults on the Autism spectrum excel with analytical skills. They have an eye for detail, exceptional focus, and tolerance for repetition that wears down non-autistic workers. These individuals “tend to thrive in tech-related professions,” said Oliver Thornton, CEO and co-founder of Coding Autism, a for-profit social enterprise that trains adults on the autism spectrum in technology-related skills.

“Someone on the spectrum tends to be more prone to focusing for a longer period of time and not having the mental fatigue to be able to do that task exceptionally,” he said in an interview with Techtonics.

Despite their academic achievement and intelligence, more than 80 percent of autistic adults around the world are either unemployed or underemployed, by U.N. estimates. And the numbers are rising.

“What’s going to happen in 15, 20 years,” asked Thornton, “… when we have a major population on the autism spectrum and they can’t find jobs adequately?”

“There’s a very significant and under-utilized source of talent out there – people that have the right education, the right experience, the right credentials, and that could add value to our companies every day,” said Jose Velasco, head of the Autism at Work program at SAP, a firm that creates software solutions for businesses.

Most of these candidates don’t even make it past the job interview process.

To tackle the problem, several tech companies, including SAP, Microsoft, and Coding Autism, have put in place training and hiring initiatives to attract autistic individuals as part of a much larger effort.

An employee demonstrates a Lego Mindstorm robot he built as part of the Autism at Work training curriculum intended to see how prospective employees problems. (SAP)

An employee demonstrates a LEGO Mindstorm robot he built as part of the Autism at Work training. The curriculum is designed to see how prospective employees tackle problems. (SAP)

Coding Autism plans to train a maximum of 15 students later this year or early next year. Its specialized curriculum teaches autistic students skills that are in high demand and that “align with their characteristics,” said Thornton, who is also on the autism spectrum. The training helps them find jobs in web development, quality assurance, advanced software skills, and cybersecurity, to name a few.

Students also learn social and job skills, financial management, and career counseling to help them look for work in the technology sector and make it through the job interview process.

Microsoft, SAP, and Hewlett Packard have similar programs with strong support systems. According to Thornton, a lot of the talent these companies look for is in cybersecurity. HP, he added, was so impressed with the outstanding performance of autistic employees that it ramped up recruiting for adults on the spectrum with cybersecurity skills.

Launched in 2013, SAP’s Autism at Work program was driven by a number of factors, including high turnover rates in the tech industry and the significant cost of replacing departing employees – somewhere between “40 to 100 percent of a person that is productive already – yearly salary,” Velasco said in an interview with Techtonics.

Autism at Work trains and hires adults on the autism spectrum in nine countries, including India, Argentina, and Brazil, the U.S., and several European countries. The program prepares candidates for job interviews and provides them with the resources and structure they need to succeed in software testing, graphic design, customer support, software development, cybersecurity, and other areas.

Jeff Wang, a SAP employee participating in the Autism at Work training program, learns how to use presentation tool Prezi and shares an overview of what he learned in training with a room full of managers. (SAP)

Jeff Wang, a SAP employee participating in the Autism at Work training program, learns how to use presentation tool Prezi and shares an overview of what he learned in training with a room full of managers. (SAP)

It is a surreal feeling of not only making a living, but also feeling valued that I get [to] share my perspectives and learn new skills,” he said in an email. “It also means feeling assured that I have a strong support system and resourceful connections who [are] always willing to help – SAP Employee Jeff Wang

“We are capturing really very smart, very brilliant people,” said Velasco. “… Our colleagues are doing a fantastic job because they have a very strong attention to detail on tasks that require a lot of concentration.”

For a high-tech company like SAP, fresh talent and perspectives are crucial for innovation. “New products are only created when you bring in different perspectives into the creative process,” he added.

“The diversity of our workforce and inclusion of talented people from different backgrounds is the fuel that keeps the engines of innovation and growth running,” said Microsoft’s Director of Inclusive Hiring and Accessibility, Neil Barnett, in an email.

Microsoft, which started an autism hiring program in 2015 to increase workforce diversity and utilize untapped potential, already has 32 autistic candidates on board as software engineers and data scientists, among other roles. They receive the same benefits and compensations as full-time employees.

“People with autism bring strengths that we need at Microsoft, such as pattern recognition, the ability to think at a very high level of detail and depth, and/or excel in math or code,” said Barnett.

The program was created with a focus on adjusting Microsoft’s hiring process “to better suit the needs of people with autism.” It is “a unique way to find qualified candidates who were not making it to Microsoft through a traditional interview process,” he said.

Microsoft’s autism program and those at SAP and Coding Autism are slowly falling under a bigger umbrella – a nascent school of thought that argues that “neurodiversity” is a natural condition of the human genome.

Earlier this year, SAP held its second Autism at Work Summit, with participation from technology and private firms, the public sector, academia, and philanthropy to promote neurodiversity and encourage more companies to consider hiring autism spectrum job seekers.

“It is not only the right thing to do,” said Velasco, “but it’s going to accelerate the implementation of these programs and also the accuracy – the way in which they are implemented.”

Aida Akl
Aida Akl is a journalist working on VOA's English Webdesk. She has written on a wide range of topics, although her more recent contributions have focused on technology. She has covered both domestic and international events since the mid-1980s as a VOA reporter and international broadcaster.

‘WannaCry’ Clues Point to China as New Vulnerability Raises Red Flags

Posted May 25th, 2017 at 1:32 pm (UTC-4)
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Today’s Tech Sightings:

A screenshot of the warning screen from a purported ransomware attack, as captured by a computer user in Taiwan, is seen on laptop in Beijing, China, May 13, 2017. (AP)

A screenshot of the warning screen from a purported ransomware attack, as captured by a computer user in Taiwan, is seen on laptop in Beijing, China, May 13, 2017. (AP)

WannaCry Ransom Note Analysis Points to Chinese-speaking Perpetrator

Cybersecurity experts continue to comb through evidence to identify the criminals who launched the global ‘WannaCry’ ransomware attack. While initial speculation linked the attackers to North Korea, researchers at cybersecurity firm Flashpoint now say Chinese speakers could be behind the English and Chinese versions of the ransom notes that popped up on computer screens in 28 languages. Minor typos in the Chinese version suggest the ransom note was typed on a Chinese-language input system, and a grammatical mistake in the English version suggests the author is not a native English speaker.

Newly Discovered Vulnerability Raises Fears of Another ‘WannaCry’

Researchers at cybersecurity firm Rapid7 have detected a vulnerability in Samba networking software that could leave thousands of computers vulnerable to attack. Rapid7 found more than 100,000 Linux and UNIX computers running Samba around the world. If exploited, the vulnerability could allow hackers to take remote control of affected computers.

Study Suggests Users More Rational on Smartphones Than PCs

A new study featured in the journal Computers in Human Behavior hypothesizes that people are likely to make more rational decisions on smartphones that focus their attention on a single task, blocking out outside information. The researchers say PC users are more open to outside information and tend to rely more on emotional decision making.

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Aida Akl
Aida Akl is a journalist working on VOA's English Webdesk. She has written on a wide range of topics, although her more recent contributions have focused on technology. She has covered both domestic and international events since the mid-1980s as a VOA reporter and international broadcaster.

Social Media Access Urged After UK Attack; New Ransomware Detected

Posted May 24th, 2017 at 2:10 pm (UTC-4)
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Today’s Tech Sightings:

FILE - 3-D plastic representations of Twitter, Facebook and Youtube logos are seen in front of an IS flag in this photo illustration shot. (Reuters)

FILE – 3-D plastic representations of Twitter, Facebook and Youtube logos are seen in front of an IS flag in this photo illustration shot. (Reuters)

UK Takes on Social Media Giants After Manchester Terror Attack

U.K. Home Secretary Amber Rudd has urged social media services like Facebook and Twitter to tackle terrorism posts and give law enforcement access to encrypted messages. The appeal followed an Islamic State terrorist attack at a Manchester pop concert that left 22 people dead on Monday. Facebook and Twitter declined to comment.

New Major Ransomware Threat Appears Days After ‘WannaCry’

Researchers at ESET security firm have discovered a new ransomware threat dubbed XData. The malware started showing up on May 17 and has been largely observed in Ukraine. The virus spreads through a Ukrainian document automation system used in accounting. ESET, which has been tracking XData, says infection rates are still low. Some decryption keys for this ransomware already exist on the BleepingComputer.com forum.

10 Ways to Protect Your Windows PCs Against Ransomware

Ransomware attacks are on the rise, and you’ll find yourself in a trouble if are caught off-guard without a separate, viable backup of your computer files. Writer Jesus Vigo offers some guidelines to help PC users protect themselves before any ransom demands pop up on their computer screens.

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Aida Akl
Aida Akl is a journalist working on VOA's English Webdesk. She has written on a wide range of topics, although her more recent contributions have focused on technology. She has covered both domestic and international events since the mid-1980s as a VOA reporter and international broadcaster.

Samsung’s Iris Scanner Fooled; N. Korea Denies ‘WannaCry Role’

Posted May 23rd, 2017 at 12:25 pm (UTC-4)
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Today’s Tech Sightings:

The iris scanner function of the Samsung Galaxy S8 is displayed, Monday, April 17, 2017, in New York. (AP)

The iris scanner function of the Samsung Galaxy S8 is displayed, April 17, 2017, in New York. (AP)

Hackers Unlock Samsung Galaxy S8 With Fake Iris

Samsung’s latest Galaxy S8 smartphone includes an iris scanner for users to lock and access their devices. But as previously demonstrated with fingerprints, biometric security measures can also be hacked. Researchers from the Chaos Computer Club were able to do just that. They took a night-mode picture of the target, manipulated it for depth, and then put a contact lens of top of it, thereby fooling the iris scanner and unlocking the smartphone.

Facebook Responds to Leak of Its Moderator Rules: ‘We Get Things Wrong’

Facebook’s head of global policy management, Monika Bickert, has responded to Monday’s report by The Guardian that published leaked documents about what content should or should not appear on the social network’s website. In her response, Brickert said Facebook sometimes gets things wrong, but it is “constantly working to make sure that happens less often” and finding the right answers to address issues relating to graphic content or other objectionable material making it to the site.

Cybersleuths Find More Clues Linking WannaCry to North Korea

Cybersecurity firms Symantec and FireEye say new evidence links North Korea to the massive ransomware attack known as WannaCry or WannaCrypt that wreaked havoc around the world. Symantec and FireEye researchers say the software code used in the attack is identical to earlier versions used by hacking group Lazarus, which is linked to the North Korean government. But Symantec also says the WannaCry attack is more typical of a cybercrime and does not bear “the hallmarks of a nation-state campaign.” North Korea has denied the allegation.

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Aida Akl
Aida Akl is a journalist working on VOA's English Webdesk. She has written on a wide range of topics, although her more recent contributions have focused on technology. She has covered both domestic and international events since the mid-1980s as a VOA reporter and international broadcaster.

Junub Games Reaches for Peace as South Sudan Wages War

Posted May 19th, 2017 at 11:30 am (UTC-4)
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A screenshot from the mobile game 'Salaam' or 'Peace.' The game encourages players to be peacemakers as they destroy the implements of war. (Lual Mayen)

A screenshot from the mobile game ‘Salaam’. The game encourages players to be peacemakers as they destroy the implements of war. (Lual Mayen)

Political feuds and ethnic violence in South Sudan have displaced more than 1.5 million people. Among them is a software engineer determined to push past hate to promote peace through games.

“Hate is one of the things that is inciting violence in South Sudan right now,” Lual Mayen, a game developer from Juba, South Sudan, told Techtonics.

Living in a refugee camp in Uganda, Mayen saw first-hand the consequences of hate-mongering and ethnic conflict, undeterred by numerous cease-fires and peace talks. All efforts to reconcile the Dinka and Nuer tribes, at odds since former Dinka Vice President Salva Kiir was dismissed in 2013, had failed. Change was necessary. As a game developer, Mayen was determined to help educate the country’s youth.

Two thirds of South Sudan’s population is under the age of 30. “They are not educated,” he lamented, “and their [lack of knowledge] is killing the country.”

So he founded Junub Games, a nonprofit organization that turns out video and board games with a singular focus on peace building. Within months, he released ‘Salaam,’ a mobile game whose name means ‘peace.’

A child play's 'Salaam,' or 'peace', a game intended to encourage children to fight hate. (Lual Mayen)

A child plays ‘Salaam,’ a game intended to encourage children to fight hate. (Lual Mayen)

The game lets users play as one of South Sudan’s warring parties. But it also gives them the opportunity to push for peace – and rewards them for it.

“It’s a game that made the player to become a peacemaker,” he said. “So I designed it in a way that it is a war game. And the wars will come – they can destroy the buildings and also destroy the people. But as a player … you have to stop all the war tools for world peace.”

Players earn points for destroying all the tools of war. If you win, “the game congratulates you as a peacemaker and also congratulates you with different types of peace messages,” he said.

A screenshot from Junub Games' the mobile Game 'Hate Cop.' (Lual Mayen)

A screenshot from Junub Games’ mobile app, ‘Hate Cop.’ The game is still being developed. (Lual Mayen)

Mayen’s latest crowdfunded mobile game, ‘Hate Cop,’ teaches young people about the dangers of hate speech. Players can take on the roles of opposing tribes or play as members of the same tribe. They rack up points when they get peace words and lose points for every hate word they draw.

The words were compiled from a lexicon on hate speech with help from PeaceTech Lab, a nonprofit that works to inspire “a new industry of peacetech entrepreneurs,” much like Mayen.

When he was in Uganda, one of Mayen’s friends told him about a partnership between PeaceTech Lab, C5 Accelerate, and Amazon Web Services called PeaceTech Accelerator, an international, eight-week mentoring program dedicated to scaling startups around the world.

Startups are selected based on their ability to produce innovative technologies that manage, mitigate, predict, or prevent conflict and promote sustainable peace.

Mayen applied and was recently in Washington D.C. to learn from TechAccelerator’s mentors about managing and expanding his business, and publishing games to the cloud.

During his stay, he had access to “potential investors, free office space, and entry into the Accelerator’s alumni network,” said Nancy Payne, PeaceTech Lab’s Vice President, in an email.

Mayen hopes this puts Junub Games on a path to change the “hearts and minds” of people and teach them to forgo hate and violence, not just in South Sudan, but eventually in other regions as well.

Aida Akl
Aida Akl is a journalist working on VOA's English Webdesk. She has written on a wide range of topics, although her more recent contributions have focused on technology. She has covered both domestic and international events since the mid-1980s as a VOA reporter and international broadcaster.

The Cost of Sharing WhatsApp’s Data; APT3 Hackers Linked to Beijing

Posted May 18th, 2017 at 1:02 pm (UTC-4)
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Today’s Tech Sightings:

This combination of file pictures created on Dec. 20, 2016 shows the logos of WhatsApp (top) and Facebook. (AFP)

FILE – This combination of file pictures shows the logos of WhatsApp (top) and Facebook. (AFP)

Facebook Fined $122M in Europe for Misleading WhatsApp Filing

European Commission antitrust regulators slapped Facebook Thursday with $122 million in fines for providing “inaccurate or misleading” information for the vetting of its $19 billion acquisition of WhatsApp in 2014. The Commission said Facebook claimed it could not automatically match WhatsApp user accounts on its platform, but then turned around and said it would do just that. It then introduced controversial changes to WhatsApp’s privacy policy that allowed it to harvest user data. The fine, however, does not reverse the Commission’s decision to clear the WhatsApp purchase.

Study: Virtual Digital Assistants Will Overtake World Population by 2021

Virtual, AI-driven digital assistants are the next frontier in tech rivalry and are projected to see significant growth in coming years. Market research and consulting firm Ovum claims more than 7.5 billion active devices will have digital assistants installed by 2021. Asia and Oceania are projected to have 47.6 percent of voice AI-capable devices in use by that time. China’s virtual assistants were already installed on around 43 million devices in 2016 and more are coming.

Report Links APT3 Hackers to Chinese Government

Researchers at cybersecurity firm Recorded Future say members of the APT3 criminal hacking group, who previously exploited zero-day vulnerabilities in Windows operating systems, are on the payroll of the Chinese Ministry of State Security. The allegation is based on the discovery of two names – Wu Yingzhuo and Dong Hao – who had registered domain names used by hackers. The two individuals are allegedly linked to the Chinese Ministry of State Security.

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Aida Akl
Aida Akl is a journalist working on VOA's English Webdesk. She has written on a wide range of topics, although her more recent contributions have focused on technology. She has covered both domestic and international events since the mid-1980s as a VOA reporter and international broadcaster.

Apple Starts Production in India; WannaCry Infects Medical Devices

Posted May 17th, 2017 at 11:12 am (UTC-4)
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Today’s Tech Sightings:

FILE - Men on motorbikes ride by an Apple iPhone SE advertisement billboard in Mumbai, India, April 26, 2016. (Reuters)

FILE – Men on motorbikes ride by an Apple iPhone SE advertisement billboard in Mumbai, India. (Reuters)

Apple Starts Assembling iPhones in India

Apple has confirmed it is beginning initial production of its iPhone SE models in Bengaluru, India. The first batch will start shipping to local customers this month. Apple has been courting India, the world’s second-largest smartphone market, for some time in an effort to retake a portion of that business from China. The local production could help mitigate the cost of the iPhone SE, but at $220, it will still cost more than the average handset.

WannaCry Ransomware Infected Medical Devices in American Hospitals

Little talked about in the midst of the massive WannaCry ransomware attack that hit more than 150 countries this past week is its effect on medical devices attached to Windows computers that got locked down for ransom. In the 48 U.K. hospitals and an unknown number of U.S. medical facilities that were infected, radiology equipment and devices that monitor imaging scans were also hacked. According to writer Thomas Fox-Brewster, this is the first incident of ransomware directly affecting the operation of a medical device.

WHO Report: Rise in Screen Time Risks UK Children’s Health

The World Health Organization (WHO) is sounding the alarm over increased use of digital devices, particularly among children. In a new study in England, Wales and Scotland, WHO said the data show more than three-quarters of children between the ages of 11 and 15 are using digital devices for more than two or more hours during weekdays. The lead author of the study, Dr. Jo Inchley, said some of the risks of increased screen time and social media use include sleep deprivation and cyberbullying. Inactivity adds the risk for long-term cardiovascular disease, obesity and Type 2 diabetes.

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Aida Akl
Aida Akl is a journalist working on VOA's English Webdesk. She has written on a wide range of topics, although her more recent contributions have focused on technology. She has covered both domestic and international events since the mid-1980s as a VOA reporter and international broadcaster.

WannaCry Blame Game Points to North Korea

Posted May 16th, 2017 at 1:55 pm (UTC-4)
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Today’s Tech Sightings:

A screenshot of the warning screen from a purported ransomware attack, as captured by a computer user in Taiwan, is seen on laptop in Beijing, China, May 13, 2017. (AP)

A screenshot of the warning screen from a purported ransomware attack, as captured by a computer user in Taiwan, Beijing, China, May 13, 2017. (AP)

The finger-pointing is underway in the massive WannaCry or WannaCrypt ransomware attack that affected nearly 150 countries, with security researchers suggesting North Korean hackers might be behind it and Microsoft blaming the U.S. government.

The hackers allegedly used tools leaked by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) to exploit a vulnerability in Microsoft’s Windows operating system and lock down affected PCs until $300 in bitcoin ransom is paid. And while Microsoft has chided the NSA for stockpiling cybersecurity vulnerabilities, some security experts say the tech giant’s criticism is unreasonable.

There are now indications that some North Korean hackers might be behind the attack. Google security researcher Neel Meht says WannaCry appears to have code similar to work done by Lazarus Group hackers, linked to North Korea. The same group was blamed for the 2016 hack of a Bangladeshi bank and the 2014 Sony hack.

But researchers still haven’t puzzled out all the characteristics of WannaCry. So far, most experts have attributed the malware to phishing emails containing malicious links or attachments. But IBM Security’s Caleb Barlow told Reuters his team’s search through a database of more than 1 billion e-mails dating back to March found nothing relating to the attack, which is statistically unusual.

Other experts also agree that there is nothing to indicate how the first WannaCry infection took place.

In another development, the group suspected of leaking a spy toolkit used by the NSA – including some that were used in the WannaCry ransomware attack, has threatened to deploy yet another batch of spy tools.

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Aida Akl
Aida Akl is a journalist working on VOA's English Webdesk. She has written on a wide range of topics, although her more recent contributions have focused on technology. She has covered both domestic and international events since the mid-1980s as a VOA reporter and international broadcaster.