US blames North Korea for WannaCry cyber attack

The United States has accused North Korea of carrying out the massive WannaCry attack that infected more than 3,00,000 computers in 150 countries earlier this year.

Following this, US President Donald Trump is, hence, slated to call on "all responsible states" to counter North Korea's ability to conduct cyberattacks and to implement all "relevant" United Nations Security Council sanctions, the Washington Post reported.

He is expected to issue a public statement on Tuesday morning.

Trump's homeland security advisor, Thomas P Bossert, made the announcement in a Wall Street Journal op-ed. He said, "The [WannaCry] attack was widespread and cost billions, and North Korea is directly responsible. We do not make this allegation lightly. It is based on evidence. We are not alone with our findings, either."

"North Korea has acted especially badly, largely unchecked, for more than a decade, and its malicious behavior is growing more egregious. WannaCry was indiscriminately reckless," he added.

The WannaCry cyber attack spread rapidly around the globe using a security flaw in Microsoft's Windows XP operating system, an older version that is no longer given mainstream tech support by the US giant.