Is WannaCry back again? LG hit with the Ransomware virus

It looks like maybe we’re not done yet with WannaCry, the infamous ransomware that encrypted the files of over 300 thousand Windows PCs few months ago. Apparently, it’s (sort of) back again, and this time LG was its goal.

The dangerous ransomware hit multiple big companies around the world including UK’s NHS hospitals and car maker Honda. The code originated from an exploit discovered by the NSA that got leaked, but Microsoft was quick to act as soon as the WannaCry virus began to spread, successfully closing the SMBv1 vulnerability through updates to all of its Windows versions. So how did WannaCry come back again and hit LG?

It might have been some inattention from the Korean giant, or maybe it just didn’t feel like updating all of its devices was necessary since the attack seemed to stop. In anyways, LG learned the hard lesson when the ransomware affected parts of its self-care centers in South Korea forcing them to go out of service for two days, until the situation was contained and no further harm was inflicted.

According to the company all Windows devices are now back to work after closing the vulnerability without any customer info being compromised or any data stolen. LG refused to pay the ransom and instead worked with Korean Internet & Security Agency (KISA) to solve the problem.

The team behind WannaCry attacks is still unknown, but reports stated that they managed to gain $140 thousand dollars worth of Bitcoins thanks to the attack. When looking at the huge number of infected PCs, this doesn’t seem like much and it means that a big portion of users simply didn’t give in to the demands. A loose thread in the WannaCry code gave hope to thousands who were able to restore their files thanks to a specific solution published by engineers on the internet.

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