Trump administration blames North Korea for WannaCry ransomware attack

Washington: President Donald Trump’s administration is publicly blaming North Korea for a ransomware attack that infected hundreds of thousands of computers worldwide in May and crippled parts of Britain’s National Health Service.

Homeland security adviser Tom Bossert writes in a Wall Street Journal op-ed published Monday night that North Korea was “directly responsible” for the Wannacry ransomware attack and that Pyongyang will be held accountable for it.

Bossert says the administration’s finding of responsibility is based on evidence and confirmed by other governments and private companies, including the United Kingdom and Microsoft.

Bossert says the Trump administration will continue to use its “maximum pressure strategy to curb Pyongyang’s ability to mount attacks, cyber or otherwise.”

Pyongyang has previously denied hacking allegations.