023: Week of 1494734400
I have to admit, I am really, really angry this week. For the first time in a long time a worm was unleashed on the web. A little back story. Years ago, the NSA found a vulnerability in Windows. Instead of disclosing the vulnerability responsibility to Microsoft, the NSA decided to keep the vulnerability a secret. Years pass and NSA is happily using this zero-day to exploit the United States’ various enemies. Then, one day, several exploits are found on a server somewhere by The Shadow Brokers. The Shadow Brokers then released the exploits they discovered. Fast forward to this week and the WannaCry exploit is unleashed on the web. The UK’s NHS was the first major victim. Rapidly the WannaCry tidal wave was washing over 99 countries. Meanwhile, back in the UK, a researcher discovers that there is a kill switch in the exploit. Apparently, the NSA put a kill switch is in place in case the worm accidentally went public (WHICH IT DID). The kill switch, was a check to see if a specific domain existed; not responding with a 200, not having a specific payload or string, nothing! Just whether or not a domain was REGISTERED controlled the worm! The NSA didn’t think to spend the $11 to kill the worm. But, a 22-year-old in the UK saved billions of dollars and probably lives with $11 while the NSA maintained its horrific negligence. Unconscionable! ...