US News French IT experts release fix for WannaCry ransomware

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The developers released the tool on Friday, as the deadline expires for computers all over the world first infected a week ago.

"This is not a perfect solution," internationally known hacker Matthieu Suiche said in a blog post after testing the fix on different versions of Windows. "But this is so far the only workable solution to help enterprises to recover their files if they have been infected and have no back-ups."

Paris-based Adrien Guinet, who works for the IT security company Quarkslab, developed a theoretical technique for decrypting the files blocked by WannaCry. Benjamin Delpy, an employee of the Banque de France, used Guinet's methods to create a free decryption tool he dubbed "wanakiwi."

Up to 74 countries targeted in global hack

Up to 74 countries have been affected by the ransomware cyberattack that has struck the NHS, according to experts. Among the other nations hit were Spain, Ukraine and India, said researchers from the Kaspersky Lab.There have been more than 45,000 attacks worldwide, mostly in Russia, the Securelist cyber security website reported.It said: "It's important to note that our visibility may be limited and incomplete and the range of targets and victims is likely much, much higher.

Before we go any further, I have to insist on making it clear that Microsoft did release the fix for the exploit the NSA Several internet security experts have implied that Russia took the brunt of the hit alongside the British NHS. Even the misfiring modification to WannaCry can still spread, however.

Fix for WannaCry ransomware is now available for download. Check out here for more details and update download links. Previously, the company had released WannaCry ransomware patch for Windows 10 devices in Match.

Europol tested the team's new tool and said it was "found to recover data in some circumstances."

One drawback is that the fix only works if the computers were not rebooted from the moment of infection.

The malicious software has infected some 300,000 computers since last Friday, with Russia and China hit the hardest. The infection, however, targeted computers all over the world, with the worm threatening to delete files if the user does not provide $300 (267 euros) to $600 in bitcoin for ransom.

Only 309 users seem to have complied with the request by Friday, paying a total of $94,000 to the attackers. Officials across the world also urged people not to pay the ransom.

dj/gsw (AP, Reuters)