Wiper Malware Used in Recent Attacks May Be a False Flag to Pin the Blame in Ukraine

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Ukrainian investigators say that the code used in the WhisperGate wiper that targeted government agencies in Ukraine this month was re-purposed from a ransomware campaign that targeted Russian victims last year.

The WhisperGate code was apparently modified from a different faux ransomware campaign discovered last year called WhiteBlackCrypt, which targeted Russians. Like WhisperGate, WhiteBlackCrypt masqueraded as ransomware but had a wiper component to erase systems.

Victor Zhora, deputy director of Ukraine's State Services for Special Communication and Information Protection, said that the actors behind WhisperGate may have used the WhiteBlackCrypt code in an attempt to point the finger at Ukraine falsely. (Kim Zetter / Zero Day)

Related: Gov.ua, The Record

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