NSA Tools Used by Hackers to Compromise Online Security

Earlier this month the 'cyber terrorist' group Shadow Brokers leaked a series of highly classified NSA documents out to the public. Among these documents were old hacking toolkits containing workable code for a plethora of weapons cyber criminals are now using for malicious purposes. The most threatening among them being DOUBLEPULSAR, a backdoor implant that allows hackers to run malicious code on devices that have been compromised.

It is believed that up to 100,000 PCs running the Microsoft Windows OS could have the implant in their machines. Around 50,000 confirmed cases have been reported, which illustrates the speed of how quickly hackers can mobilize NSA-grade tools against thousands of businesses. The DOUBLEPULSAR tool has given these hackers the ability to upload malware with ease as long as the PC has been properly primed.

Although Microsoft has already began rolling out updates to fix some of the exploitable aspects of the OS, this incident has brought to light an important issue that many businesses are going to need to face if they hope to keep their cyber assets safe.

For more on the NSA hacking click here.

Photo: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/04/14/latest_shadow_brokers_data_dump/