WannaCry Hackers Empty Bitcoin Wallet

The hackers behind the WannaCry ransomware attack have moved more that $140,000 (£105,000) worth of bitcoins paid by victims of the malware, out of the online wallet set up to receive the ransoms.

The BBC reported that a Twitter bot set up by a journalist from Quartz noticed the bitcoin activity with the online wallet associated with the WannaCry ransomware.

WannaCry wallet

The wallet has been completely emptied signalling that the cyber criminals behind the attacks believe they have got the most they can out of the ransomware campaign.

Despite the warnings by many law enforcement agencies and cyber security experts advising victims of WannaCry to not pay the ransom, it would appear many did not heed this warning and coughed up a sum to the tune of $300 worth of bitcoins to have their systems released from the grip of WannaCry.

With the wallet emptied, it is likely the bitcoins will be converted into other currencies making the money difficult to track and likely allow the perpetrators to get away with the cyber crime.

While WannaCry caused a lot of havoc infecting all manner of organisations and devices, from NHS hospitals through to traffic systems, it was intended to be money-making malware.

This in contrast to the not NotPetya, malware which posed as ransomware but appeared to be more of a cyber weapon designed to cause chaos with infrastructure and organisations, with the attacks appearing to be closer to a form of cyber weapons testing as opposed to traditional system encryption and ransom.

Quiz: What do you know about cyber security in 2017?