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posted by cmn32480 on Friday May 19 2017, @11:56AM   Printer-friendly
from the maybe-there-is-hope dept.

Various news outlets report the release of
Wannakey, a decryption utility for files encrypted by the WannaCry ransomware. According to the author of the software, it "has only been tested and known to work under Windows XP."

From the Wired article noted below:

Now one French researcher says he's found at least a hint of a very limited remedy. The fix still seems too buggy, and far from the panacea WannaCry victims have hoped for. But if Adrien Guinet's claims hold up, his tool could unlock some infected computers running Windows XP, the aging, largely unsupported version of Microsoft's operating system, which analysts believe accounts for some portion of the WannaCry plague.

[...] Guinet says he's successfully used the decryption tool several times on test XP machines he's infected with WannaCry. But he cautions that, because those traces are stored in volatile memory, the trick fails if the malware or any other process happened to overwrite the lingering decryption key, or if the computer rebooted any time after infection.

Coverage:

Previous stories:
"Biggest Ransomware Attack in History" Hits Around 100 Countries, Disrupts UK's NHS
WannaCrypt Ransomware Variant -- Lacking Kill Switch -- Seen in Wild [Updated]


Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 2) by Gaaark on Friday May 19 2017, @04:08PM (1 child)

    by Gaaark (41) on Friday May 19 2017, @04:08PM (#512233) Journal

    Cry baby cry, make your mother sigh...

    Makes me glad i'm off windows.

    Side note: Bell (in Canada) got hacked, and i got informed by haveibeenpwned 1 day before Bell told me. Bell says no passwords were taken, but pwned says there were.
    Anywho, i changed my password. My wife asked me what the new password was, then asked me why i couldn't have a nice simple password.

      Yes, she uses windows, but mostly uses her tablet (android) because she can't get online with her windows laptop: she keeps getting redirected to some website (she keeps saying windows is better than linux, but wont let me try to fix her laptop, so......)

    Too many people are just lazy with clicking, passwords, security....... sigh.

    --
    --- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 19 2017, @08:13PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 19 2017, @08:13PM (#512352)

    "keeps saying windows is better than linux"... Do you know how many times I've heard that while fixing their malware infested porn terminal? I sometimes want to install Linux but change the themes to look like Windows and be done with it.