(Reuters/Jim Urquhart)

IDT Corp CIO: ‘World Not Ready’ for Cyber Attack That May Already Be in Our Systems

Ransomware using cyberweapons stolen from the National Security Agency struck a New Jersey conglomerate April 29 — setting off alarms with its global chief information officer that future attacks loom and “the world isn’t ready,” The New York Times reported.

Golan Ben-Oni of IDT Corp. was able to fend off the attack, which was similar to the devastating global strike by WannaCry that hit England, China, and elsewhere – but went unreported in the media.

But according to the Times, the ransom demand at IDT was just a smoke screen for a far more invasive attack that stole employee credentials.

“The world is burning about WannaCry, but this is a nuclear bomb compared to WannaCry,” Ben-Oni told the Times. “This is different. It’s a lot worse. It steals credentials. You can’t catch it, and it’s happening right under our noses.

“The world isn’t ready for this.”

Cyberattack Hits Ukraine Then Spreads Internationally – New York Times

Cyberattack Hits Ukraine Then Spreads Internationally – New York Times

Like the WannaCry attacks in May, the latest global hacking took control of computers and demanded digital ransom from their owners to regain access. The new attack used the same National Security Agency hacking tool, Eternal Blue, that was used in the WannaCry episode, as well as two other methods to promote its spread, according to researchers at the computer security company Symantec.

The National Security Agency has not acknowledged its tools were used in WannaCry or other attacks. But computer security specialists are demanding that the agency help the rest of the world defend against the weapons it created.

Golan Ben-Oni, of the IDT Corporation, which was attacked in April with two cyberweapons stolen from the National Security Agency.

A Cyberattack ‘the World Isn’t Ready For’

NEWARK — There have been times over the last two months when Golan Ben-Oni has felt like a voice in the wilderness.

On April 29, someone hit his employer, IDT Corporation, with two cyberweapons that had been stolen from the National Security Agency. Mr. Ben-Oni, the global chief information officer at IDT, was able to fend them off, but the attack left him distraught.

'Petya' Is Latest Wave In Growing Cascade Of Cyberattacks

‘Petya’ Is Latest Wave In Growing Cascade Of Cyberattacks on WPSU

The massive cyberattack nicknamed Petya has ravaged computers around the world, even knocking out radiation monitoring computers and compromising the U.S. drug company Merck. Like the WannaCry attack in May, it was ransomware that demanded a few hundred dollars in bitcoin to unlock frozen data.

To security specialist Golan Ben-Oni, it also had echoes of a lesser-known attack in April on his company, the New Jersey-based conglomerate IDT Corporation. Here & Now‘s Robin Young talks with Ben-Oni (@gbenoni) about the latest attack and his campaign to protect his company against the next one.

'Petya' Is Latest Wave In Growing Cascade Of Cyberattacks

‘Petya’ Is Latest Wave In Growing Cascade Of Cyberattacks

The massive cyberattack nicknamed Petya has ravaged computers around the world, even knocking out radiation monitoring computers and compromising the U.S. drug company Merck. Like the WannaCry attack in May, it was ransomware that demanded a few hundred dollars in bitcoin to unlock frozen data.

To security specialist Golan Ben-Oni, it also had echoes of a lesser-known attack in April on his company, the New Jersey-based conglomerate IDT Corporation.

Here & Now‘s Robin Young talks with Ben-Oni (@gbenoni) about the latest attack and his campaign to protect his company against the next one.