Meet EternalRocks, The New Malware Successor To WannaCrypt & It's Far Deadlier Than Ever Before
The malware makes use of even more leaked NSA hacking tools than its predecessor.
Malicious actors have created a new strain of malware that targets the same vulnerability as the WannaCrypt ransomware from last week.
EternalRocks, as it¡¯s called, uses the same flaw in Microsoft¡¯s Server Message Block (SMB) networking protocol to infect other Windows systems that haven¡¯t yet been patched. However, the new entry may be far deadlier than its predecessor.
According to early expert analysis, EternalRocks usen seven hacking tools leaked from the NSA database earlier this year, where WannaCRypt had just two. In addition, it¡¯s also been built without the kill switch present in the former.
Thankfully, while EternalRocks is currently infecting computers, it doesn¡¯t yet carry a malware payload. That basically means it¡¯s turning every computer it infects into a virus carrier, without showing any symptoms.
¡°EternalRocks is the difficult second album from the community that gave us WannaCry,¡± commented Matt Walmsley, EMEA Director, Vectra Networks, to The Register. ¡°It¡¯s darker, more refined, but targeting the same audience and more of their favourite NSA 'Shadow Broker' exploits. All in the hope that many people failed to patch after the WannaCry crisis.¡±
