BinaryEdge, a Zurich cybersecurity company, began picking up machines around the world infected with an N.S.A. exploit called DoublePulsar.
Using another exploit, called EternalBlue, attackers began targeting vulnerable machines with a self-replicating software "worm" that locked files and posted a ransom demand.
It moved particularly quickly through corporate networks thanks to its reuse of a security exploit, called EternalBlue, first discovered by the NSA before being stolen and leaked by an allegedly Russian-linked hacking group called the Shadow Brokers.
The exploit, called a cross-site scripting attack, has been tested on each of these sites.
The ransomware's code makes it pretty clear that it's taking advantage of an exploit called EternalBlue, published in April by the Shadow Brokers but patched preemptively by Microsoft in March.
The exploit, called CVE-2016-4657, nothatthat it affects "WebKit in Apple iOS before 9.3.5" and "allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via a crafted web site".
The exploit, called Cloak & Dagger, uses Android's design and screen behaviors against users, effectively hiding activity behind various app-generated interface elements that lets a hacker grab screen interactions and hide activity behind seemingly innocuous screens.
It would seem that Google's Bouncer doesn't catch everything as Professor Xuxian Jiang, the same guy who discovered dozens of other Android malware attacks, has found yet another exploit called RootSmart.
Another exploit called "BXR" allowed players to melee, cancel the animation, and quickly attack for an instant kill; this exploit and many others were removed from the game's sequel.
Gibson Security, a collective of Australian hackers, published the vulnerability this week, claiming others can use an exploit called "find_friends" to try and match up phone numbers with Snapchat users.
