WannaCry: the ransomware attack on the NHS and what we can learn from it

In May 2017, malware WannaCry infected computers in more than 48 NHS organisations. It was not a targeted attack, according to Matt Willis, researcher at the University of Oxford. Instead, the ransomware was able to spread across unpatched computers thanks to EternalBlue, a “cyber weapon” allegedly developed and lost by the US National Security Agency. Willis discussed the ethical issue of intelligence services stockpiling software exploits and questioned whether developers should help fix such vulnerabilities.