Microsoft criticizes governments for stockpiling cyber weapons, says attack is 'wake-up call'

Microsoft has criticized governments for storing computer exploits secretly, calling the attack continues WannaCry ransomware to "wake up."

Ransomware, also called WannaCrypt, was first observed on Friday and affected at least 200,000 computers in more than 150 countries, including some in hospitals, blocking until their owners paid a rebate to Bitcoin attackers.

Some security experts expect a second wave of attacks began Monday morning, as employees and how to get to work and return on affected computers.

WannaCry software is particularly virulent, as it does not necessarily require users to take action, such as clicking a link or downloading software to propagate; It can also be propagated automatically using file sharing systems on networks.

WannaCry uses a vulnerability in earlier versions of Windows originally discovered and used by the US National Security Agency as an offensive cyber weapon.

"This attack is another example of why government storage vulnerabilities are a problem," Microsoft President Brad Smith wrote in a blog post Sunday.

"We have seen vulnerabilities stored by the CIA to appear on WikiLeaks, and customers now this stolen NSA vulnerability has hit the world. On several occasions, the exploits in the hands of governments have gone public and caused considerable damage ".

Smith's post destroyed Microsoft critics by pointing out that the company has released a patch for vulnerability earlier this year, but many organizations have not patched older computers. Smith also said Microsoft has been working all day to help affected customers, even older operating systems that are no longer supported.

But he also warns that similar attacks will recur unless governments stop stockpiling these kinds of vulnerabilities: