Trump ordered emergency meetings to deal with massive global computer ransomware attack
- President Trump ordered his homeland security adviser, Tom Bossert, to hold an emergency meeting Friday night over last week's cyber attack
- Another meeting was called for Saturday for top White House security staff, including some cabinet members
- More than 200,000 computers in 150 countries were affected in last week's malware attack, which benefited from stolen NSA technology
President Donald Trump ordered his homeland security adviser, Tom Bossert, to hold an emergency meeting Friday night.
The meeting was called to assess the threat posed by a global computer ransomware attack, a senior administration official told Reuters.
Senior security staff held another meeting in the White House Situation Room on Saturday.
President Trump ordered his Homeland Security Advisor Tom Bossert to hold an emergency meeting Friday night to assess the threat posed by a global computer ransomware attack
Homeland Security Advisor Tom Bossert held an emergency meeting Friday night to discuss last week's massive hack, in which a stolen program from the NSA was likely used
That meeting was attended by several cabinet secretaries, deputy secretaries and 'appropriate staff,' according to reporting from Politico.
The attack affected more than 200,000 computers, in at least 150 countries.
The FBI and National Security Agency were trying to identify the perpetrators of the massive cyber attack, said the official, who spoke with Reuters on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.
The malware attack affected the U.K.'s National Health Services and Russia's Interior Ministry, along with brand-name companies including FedEx and Nissan, according to Bloomberg News, which confirmed the White House meetings.
The attack used a tool called Eternal Blue, which was developed by the National Security Agency and then stolen, according to the Financial Times.
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Attackers used a modified version of a virus called WannaCry, which encrypts computer files and demands a fee to have them unlocked.
Generally, computers are infected via email, but in this case, WannaCry spread through computer networks with the help of Eternal Blue, which allows the malware to spread through file-sharing protocols.
In many cases, these internal networks span the globe.
Security officials in the United Kingdom believe the hacks are the work of a criminal group, but their identity has not been revealed.
A 22-year-old English researcher stopped, or at least paused the attack, by registering a domain that acted as a kill switch in the code, according to the Guardian.
Disruptions could continue Monday, however, as people return to work, officials warn.
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