Slashdot Mirror
S. Korea Says Cyber Attack From North Wiped 48,700 Machines
wiredmikey writes "An official investigation into a major cyber attack on South Korean banks and broadcasters last month has determined that North Korea's military intelligence agency was responsible. An investigation into access records and the malware used in the attack pointed to the North's military Reconnaissance General Bureau as the source, the Korea Internet and Security Agency (KISA) said on Wednesday. To spread the malware, the attackers went through 49 different places in 10 countries including South Korea, the investigation found. The attacks used malware that can wipe the contents of a computer's hard disk (including Linux machines) and damaged 48,700 machines including PCs, ATMs, and servers."
All the vulnerable machines were wiped. So now there are no vulnerable machines anymore. Second attack will be much harder. And the percentage of Korean users doing proper backups will probably be growing :-) (Not that I'm saying people in Korea are more negligent with backups than others).
Yeah just look at what happened at Royal Bank of Scotland last year. Some people at Ulster Bank (a subsidiary of RBS) where unable to access their account for the best part of a month.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_RBS_computer_system_problems
Now imagine that every bank is in the same situation as RBS along with VISA and Mastercard.