WannaCry was doing a great job of partitioning data from people that should never have been "managing" it in the first place. I was really hoping that a significant portion of my data had been encrypted into the abyss for eternity.
> House fires were doing a great job of partitioning houses from people that should never have been owning them in the first place. I was really hoping that a significant portion of my house had been burnt to the ground.
WannaCry damaged heathcare systems and caused real suffering for many people. This is way beyond people deserving a nuisance for being incompetent. Creating it was a dangerous and criminal act that should be seen on par with physical sabotage of important systems. Should derailing a train be ok because the tracks are "just lying there in the open"?
While dangerous, it was waiting to happen. I think if we look back on this in 10 years we'll consider it a wakeup call and we'll be glad it didn't get far worse (as it could have, if the creators were competent).
Like how derailing a train is waiting for it to happen?
Exploiting weaknesses is still cybercrime, even if the target system was insecure. That's why there's black and white hats, and why white hat hackers can still get into trouble.
For years, you had billions of bacteria in your mouth, slowly disintegrating the enamel of your teeth and slowly burrowing cavities into your teeth. They consume the food you eat, then urinate acidic waste that destroys your teeth and gums. They do this so slowly that you don't even feel the acidic damage.
Then, one day, you use a very strong mouthwash that contains alcohol. The alcohol instantly kills billions of bacteria, all of whom urinate instantly all at the same time, in excruciatingly painful death. The acid level is so high that it causes a burning sensation in your mouth, you are like, "damn, this mouthwash burns, I'm not using this crap again!"
You saw the mouthwash as the bad guy. In reality, the bad guys were there all along.
Oh yes, it's still a crime and it should be. But if the public grossly underestimates train safety and refuses to put in safeguards, an accident is a good way to wake them up. And in this case the train derailed, but at least someone was able to press the emergency stop button (to stay within the metaphor).
The Healthcare system damaged the Healthcare system. I am ashamed of the people that had access to my data.
While the people that did this caused pain and cost to the industry, I am looking forward to them inducing more pain until the "health professionals" stop harming patients by being wreckless and cavalier with their patient data. The real patient harm has been occurring all along, you just didn't know about it until now.
