In addition, the North Koreans had added what security experts call “kill switches,” which made it possible to stop the malware from spreading further. One kill switch directed the malware to look for a specific web address that did not yet exist. As long as it wasn’t there, WannaCry would continue to spread. But once someone registered and activated the web address, which was a simple technical step, the code would stop replicating. Late on May 12 a security researcher in the United Kingdom analyzed the code and found this kill switch. For the modest price of $10.69, he registered and
...more
