US security agency 'linked to Baltimore hack'
EternalBlue tool, used to exploit a flaw of the same name, allegedly linked to National Security Agency


A tool developed by the US National Security Agency (NSA) that exploits a flaw in Windows is behind the ongoing ransomware attack on the city of Baltimore, according to reports.
It's called EternalBlue and according to The New York Times, it's been used to shut down Baltimore's government, locking employees out of email accounts and residents out of essential online services since 7 May.
Confusingly, EternalBlue exploits a vulnerability also called EternalBlue, which is a flaw in certain versions of Microsoft's Windows XP and Vista systems, allowing hackers to execute remote commands on their target. The EternalBlue tool was developed by the NSA in the early part of this decade and was in use for more than five years, according to the Washington Post, until it was stolen from the agency in April 2017 by the hacking group The ShadowBrokers, which promptly leaked it online. .
The EternalBlue flaw has since been used to cause cyber destruction around the world, including high-profile attacks such as WannaCry in May 2017, the NSA being forced to come clean to Microsoft, and the NotPetya attacks in June of the same year.
Now EternalBlue is reportedly behind the Baltimore ransomware attacks that have shut the city down for almost a month and the local government want answers from the NSA. The agency has never confirmed how it came to lose control of its hacking tool, nor officially commented on the affair.
Some have criticised Baltimore's, however, saying that if the ransomware is ExternalBlue-based the city has had plenty of time to update its systems and close off the vulnerability.
"EternalBlue was released over two years ago. If an organisation has substantial numbers of Windows machines that have gone 2 years without patches, then that's squarely the fault of the organization, not EternalBlue," tweeted ethical hacker Rob Graham.
Sign up today and you will receive a free copy of our Future Focus 2025 report - the leading guidance on AI, cybersecurity and other IT challenges as per 700+ senior executives
Baltimore's government hasn't been able to send and receive emails since the attack and some of its employees have tried to sign up for Gmail accounts to continue with work. But these accounts were stopped, instantly, by Google's systems.
In a statement to The Verge, a Google spokesperson said its security systems had detected the creation of several accounts in a short period of time and had automatically shut them down.
"We have restored access to the Gmail accounts for the Baltimore city officials," the spokesperson said. "Our automated security systems disabled the accounts due to the bulk creation of multiple consumer Gmail accounts from the same network."
Bobby Hellard is ITPro's Reviews Editor and has worked on CloudPro and ChannelPro since 2018. In his time at ITPro, Bobby has covered stories for all the major technology companies, such as Apple, Microsoft, Amazon and Facebook, and regularly attends industry-leading events such as AWS Re:Invent and Google Cloud Next.
Bobby mainly covers hardware reviews, but you will also recognize him as the face of many of our video reviews of laptops and smartphones.
-
Hackers breached a 158 year old company by guessing an employee password – experts say it’s a ‘pertinent reminder’ of the devastating impact of cyber crime
News A Panorama documentary exposed hackers' techniques and talked to the teams trying to tackle them
-
The ransomware boom shows no signs of letting up – and these groups are causing the most chaos
News Thousands of ransomware cases have already been posted on the dark web this year
-
Everything we know about the Ingram Micro cyber attack so far
News A cyber attack on Ingram Micro severely disrupted operations and has been claimed by the SafePay ransomware group.
-
A prolific ransomware group says it’s shutting down and giving out free decryption keys to victims – but cyber experts warn it's not exactly a 'gesture of goodwill'
News The Hunters International ransomware group is rebranding and switching tactics
-
Swiss government data published following supply chain attack – here’s what we know about the culprits
News Radix, a non-profit organization in the health promotion sector, supplies a number of federal offices, whose data has apparently been accessed.
-
Ransomware victims are getting better at haggling with hackers
News While nearly half of companies paid a ransom to get their data back last year, victims are taking an increasingly hard line with hackers to strike fair deals.
-
LockBit data dump reveals a treasure trove of intel on the notorious hacker group
News An analysis of May's SQL database dump shows how much LockBit was really making
-
‘I take pleasure in thinking I can rid society of at least some of them’: A cyber vigilante is dumping information on notorious ransomware criminals – and security experts say police will be keeping close tabs
News An anonymous whistleblower has released large amounts of data allegedly linked to the ransomware gangs