Thomas Bossert, an adviser to President Donald Trump on homeland security and counterterrorism, has said the ransomware attack that affected computer systems worldwide was not carried out using a tool developed the National Security Agency, CNS News reported Monday.
Bossert added he believes that the ransomware worm, dubbed WannaCry or WanaCrypt, was developed by “culpable parties” such as foreign nation-state criminals.
Europol found that the attack disrupted computers of at least 200,000 individuals in more than 150 countries Friday.
Bossert noted the number of infected computers has reached more than 300,000 as of Monday morning, but infection rates have decreased over the weekend and no U.S. federal systems have been affected.
“Overall, the U.S. infection rate has been lower than many parts of the world, but we may still see a significant impact on additional networks as these malware attacks morph and change.”
Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly spearheads public-private coordination on the country’s response efforts related to the ransomware attack, according to Bossert.
