U.S. declares North Korea carried out massive WannaCry cyberattack

The Trump administration on Monday evening publicly acknowledged that North Korea was behind the WannaCry computer worm that affected more than 230,000 computers in more than 150 countries earlier this year.

“The [WannaCry] attack was widespread and cost billions, and North Korea is directly responsible,” Thomas P. Bossert, Trump’s homeland security adviser, said in an op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal on Monday. “We do not make this allegation lightly. It is based on evidence. We are not alone with our findings, either.”

Bossert acknowledged that the United States has few options left to retaliate against North Korea and to pressure the isolated nation to change its behavior, short of starving its people or attacking it. North Korea already is one of the most heavily sanctioned countries in the world. He said it was important nonetheless to call North Korea out publicly.

In June, The Washington Post reported that the National Security Agency had linked North Korea to the creation of the worm. In October, the British government declared that it believed North Korea was the culprit. The following month, the CIA issued a similar classified assessment, which has not been previously reported.

Bossert credited two U.S.-based corporations, Facebook and Microsoft, for acting last week to disable North Korean accounts, and he issued a broad call to all U.S. companies to help defend the country and its allies against future cyberattacks.

More From The Washington Post: