NotPetya Ransomware Attacks, the UK say its Russian Design.

The NotPetya ransomware that went on to create havoc in 2016 was the handy work of Russia says the UK government. The ransomware that spread like wild fire across the world infected thousands of business in France, India, and Spain. Those affected by the virus were asked to shun money to get their system unlocked by the criminals, who had encrypted the whole file remotely.

UK defense secretary Gavin Williamson is quoted as saying “We have entered a new era of warfare, witnessing a destructive and deadly mix of conventional military might and malicious cyber-attacks. Russia is ripping up the rulebook by undermining democracy, wrecking livelihoods by targeting critical infrastructure and weaponizing information. We must be primed and ready to tackle these stark and intensifying threats.”

The US government has also made similar charges against the Russian for unleashing this malware that went on to seize thousands of systems and business across the world. Sarah Sanders described it as “part of the Kremlin’s ongoing effort to destabilize Ukraine and demonstrates ever more clearly Russia’s involvement in the ongoing conflict”.

Since 2014, the Russians have made their presence in Ukraine, which is again said to be a cyber-warfare area developed by the Kremlin agents. As always Russians have denied the charges, including the one that was brought down the local energy grid and disrupted power supply in 2015.

The UK Prime Minister squarely blames the Russian President Vladimir Putin to weaponize data and information to mutter data to be used against the current US President. This was later attributed to being fake news.

In response to the NotPetya charge Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told the BBC.“We categorically dismiss such accusations; we consider them unsubstantiated and groundless said the Russians. It’s not more than a continuation of the Russophobic campaign, which is not based on any evidence,”

“The UK government judges that the Russian government, specifically the Russian military, was responsible for the destructive NotPetya cyber-attack. Its reckless release disrupted organizations across Europe costing hundreds of millions of pounds. The Kremlin has positioned Russia in direct opposition to the West yet it doesn’t have to be that way.”

While the security experts thought NotPetya malware is an extension of Petya ransomware, it turned out to be a new variant of earlier code that was used. The code called Eternal Blue, the code stolen from NSA was one of the vulnerabilities that gave rise to WannaCry last year.

The lawmakers of the UK also feel that some elements of Brexit who have the Russians backing in EU referendum are behind the rise of NotPetya, which is yet to be proved. The digital funding of UK election is also being looked upon to see any Russian signature at the end of the action.

The UK government has geared up its fight to combat disinformation campaign, and have put in place a dedicated national security unit.