• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

New LA Angels owner Stan Kroenke is quietly America's largest private landowner, boasting 2.7 million acres and besting Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos

2

One of MacKenzie Scott's latest donations takes her HBCU giving to well over $1 billion

3

'Critical employees will begin to retire': Trump’s new pay plan will deny most federal roles a raise, and it has workers warning of a retention crunch

1

New LA Angels owner Stan Kroenke is quietly America's largest private landowner, boasting 2.7 million acres and besting Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos

2

One of MacKenzie Scott's latest donations takes her HBCU giving to well over $1 billion

3

'Critical employees will begin to retire': Trump’s new pay plan will deny most federal roles a raise, and it has workers warning of a retention crunch
Techwannacry

WannaCry Ransoms Suddenly Leave Attackers’ Bitcoin Wallets

By
David Meyer
David Meyer
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
David Meyer
David Meyer
Down Arrow Button Icon
August 3, 2017, 10:46 AM ET
Google source logo
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Remember the WannaCry cyber-crimewave that infected hundreds of thousands of computers around the world a few months ago? The proceeds of that crime – around $140,000 worth of bitcoins – have finally been withdrawn from the attackers’ virtual wallets.

The withdrawals were spotted Thursday by a Twitter bot called @actual_ransom, set up by Quartz reporter Keith Collins to keep an eye on those wallets. As Collins noted, “few expected” that those behind the WannaCry attacks would ever try to move their money, as they only used a few bitcoin addresses to which people subsequently paid a lot of attention.

WannaCry is what’s known as ransomware – malware that infects a computer and encrypts files, which can supposedly only be decrypted once the victim pays a ransom. In this case, the ransom for each infection was $300, to be paid in bitcoin.

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.

The list of WannaCry victims was vast, ranging from hospitals in the U.K.’s National Health Service to Honda’s car factories. Subsequent research showed that almost all the victims were running Windows 7. WannaCry was in part designed to exploit a flaw, found in many versions of Microsoft’s operating system, that had been exposed through a leak from the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA).

Read: A Single Extreme Cyberattack Could Cost the U.S. More than Hurricane Katrina

Cybersecurity firm Symantec said it was likely that North Korean hackers were behind the attack. Considering the number of computers affected by the attack, the overall haul was pretty small.

Collins theorized that the money withdrawn on Thursday, in seven separate transactions, may go through a “bitcoin mixer” in order to obfuscate which funds are heading where. The bitcoin ecosystem is based on a public ledger, so transactions are inherently public, but some people run their money through high-volume accounts to try and counter this transparency.

About the Author
By David Meyer
LinkedIn icon
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Google source logo
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Tech


Most Popular

Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • TikTok icon
  • YouTube icon

    Latest in Tech


    Most Popular

    © 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
    FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.