Security researcher known as MalwareTech on Twitter received all the press attention after becoming the accidental hero who stopped the WannaCry ransomware campaign. Unfortunately, that led to effective doxxing, when he had initially wanted to protect his identity. However, others took advantage of this situation to recognize his work. HackerOne confirmed it will give MalwareTech $10,000 for his actions, and Just Eat announced he will be able to eat free pizza there for a year.
A Quick Recap
WannaCry took over the web, knocking out 250,000 systems. FedEx, Telefónica, and the British health system were the most affected. Microsoft issued the necessary patch in March, but the delay of some administrators combined with the lack of support for Windows XP created the perfect breeding ground, and in Redmond they were forced to release an additional hotfix. Specialized sites have already made their recommendations, and even vaccines were developed to prevent infection.
The Kill Switch Discovery
The WannaCry campaign could have continued to sow chaos, were it not for the intervention of researcher MalwareTech. While analyzing the code, he discovered that this ransomware tried to connect to an unregistered domain, "iuqerfsodp9ifjaposdfjhgosurijfaewrwergwea.com". His next step was to register that domain hoping to get additional data about WannaCry's behavior, but once activated, the ransomware stopped completely. At first he thought it was a kill switch, however, the domain was there to report whether WannaCry was inside a virtual machine.
A Well-Deserved Reward
The traditional press moved heaven and earth to identify MalwareTech, and they certainly succeeded, but they didn't consider that the researcher preferred to keep a low profile. That implies a very important risk, as the people responsible for WannaCry probably aren't too happy. If there's a silver lining, it's this: HackerOne awarded MalwareTech a prize of $10,000, which he will donate in full, and after a couple of images appeared on his Twitter account of pizza from Just Eat, the chain confirmed that he will be able to eat free pizza for a year. He deserves every slice. We are in debt.
