Shadow Brokers, the hacking group behind the release of the WannaCry malware, has announced that it will be releasing more of its stolen data on a monthly basis.
In a blog post, the group said that the data would be available to anyone willing to pay a subscription fee.
The Goods
The hackers have not offered proof that they possess any more data, but have alleged that their collection includes Windows 10 exploits, banking information, and "compromised network data from Russian, Chinese, Iranian, or North Korean nukes and missile programs."
In a post on their blog, the hackers announced that they would be launching a monthly data dump service, comparing it to a "wine of the month club" for hackers. The group said that the data would be locked behind a subscription fee, but, beyond that, they do not care who buys the data or for what purpose it is used.
The group appears to have no qualms regarding the harm that could come from the sale of the stolen data as the subscription service appears to be open to anyone, from tech enthusiasts to terrorist organizations.
In fact, the only thing we really know about the group's choice of clientele is their frustration that no tech companies or national governments were willing to pay the ransom. The group called out several countries, international organizations, and multinational companies by name, including the UN, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Google, Apple, and Microsoft.
Interestingly enough, one of the countries mentioned in the blog post is "Korea," which casts doubt on the theory that North Korea was behind the recent WannaCry attacks. Of course, anything the Shadow Brokers say should be taken with full shaker of salt.
WannaCry
While the hackers behind the actual WannaCry attacks have not been identified, we do know that the malware itself was obtained from the Shadow Brokers, who stole it from the NSA.
Microsoft had previously patched the vulnerability, but many computers had not installed the updates and were left exposed. Most troubling was the fact that hospitals often used older machines running outdated operating systems, which were left open to the WannaCry exploit.
The leaked WannaCry software has also caused a rift between Microsoft and the U.S. government, with the Redmond-based company criticizing the NSA for holding on to exploits.
"Repeatedly, exploits in the hands of governments have leaked into the public domain and caused widespread damage," said Microsoft's Brad Smith. "An equivalent scenario with conventional weapons would be the U.S. military having some of its Tomahawk missiles stolen. And this most recent attack represents a completely unintended but disconcerting link between the two most serious forms of cybersecurity threats in the world today - nation-state action and organized criminal action."
