[2017-05-22] WannaCry Disclosure: It Was Developed to Promote Bitcoin

[Vladdirescu87]

The WannaCry malware, that attacked 200,000 victims in at least 150 countries, exploiting a vulnerability of the Windows operating system, was developed to promote Bitcoin.

This malware demanded owners pay a ransom in Bitcoin to free their devices from the virus.

As strange as it may seem, I, George Gor, think the malware was developed to promote Bitcoin to a wider number of users and to raise its price on the market. Who might have ordered such a virus? We can only guess. However, the idea is making some sense as WannaCry engages some mechanisms of PR which indeed might cause the growth of Bitcoin popularity.

You can read the full article and take part in the discussion here: https://coinidol.com/wannacry-disclosure-bitcoin/

[LLec]

At first I didn't see it in this way. All that could of come from it was bad press just as it did when silk road introduced bitcoin to the masses in it's first wave. This is the second.
But ever since it was put into the public wildness the virus has bought attention to it, whether that be negative, it is still world wide press and has the viewers know what bitcoin is and then makes them, forced in a way, to find out how they will be able to obtain it so they can pay these ransoms in exchange for their data.
Which is a shame really but a a harsh reality.
The price did jump $400 since it has been made public of how to make a payment to these cyber terrorists.
What else do you call them other than hackers and just plain bounty hunters.
It would of been made 100x worst if not for the kill switch being triggerd to stop this terrorist attack on the hospitals, schools, offices and call centers around the globe.
Even a Russian interior minister was not spared from being exploited by this vriruses outreach.

https://www.rt.com/viral/389252-nsa-hacking-tool-eternalrocks/

wcry-wannacry-ransomware-devastates-across-globe

[1Referee]

It's funny how news sites desperately try to keep pushing articles into the net to boost their ad revenue. First it was Bitcoin the main source of evil in this case, then it was the price increasing due to people buying Bitcoin to pay the ransom, and now it's this... What's next? If the entity behind this attack wanted to gain big time, he would have gone for an altcoin such as Litecoin or so, and not something like heavy (in terms of it's price) as Bitcoin. There where Bitcoin's price gets pushed up with like 20%, Litecoin's price would more or less double in value.

[Immakillya]

Yes. That is true. They created this wannaCry malware to promote bitcoin. But not in a good way. Sure it increases the popularity of bitcoin. But i don't think their impression about bitcoin will be good. For me its more on negative than positive. Hackers are very hard to track. And now, its even more because they use bitcoin.

[Trophonius]

I do not think this is 100% true, it might be. But without proof, I don't know.

I don't know if the plan worked, does anyone have proof that the popularity actually went up on BTC?

[cr1776]

The WannaCry malware, that attacked 200,000 victims in at least 150 countries, exploiting a vulnerability of the Windows operating system, was developed to promote Bitcoin.

This malware demanded owners pay a ransom in Bitcoin to free their devices from the virus.

As strange as it may seem, I, George Gor, think the malware was developed to promote Bitcoin to a wider number of users and to raise its price on the market. Who might have ordered such a virus? We can only guess. However, the idea is making some sense as WannaCry engages some mechanisms of PR which indeed might cause the growth of Bitcoin popularity.

You can read the full article and take part in the discussion here: https://coinidol.com/wannacry-disclosure-bitcoin/

Pathetic.  Presenting as fact some opinion without any evidence.

[Qartada]

I think you're underestimating just how lazy people are.  People who weren't actually affected by the virus will largely just look at it as another reason why Bitcoin is somehow bad, because they won't spend the time considering its similarities to cash or how important online freedom is to people's privacy.

I'm actually very surprised by how little these attacks have been covered in the press.  Some articles don't even mention Bitcoin at all, and many who do only mention it in passing.  Therefore it'll get little attention from most people and those who do give it attention will be either too traumatised to pay attention/be reasonable, or will view it as just another reason why they've been told Bitcoin is bad.

The only incentive we can assume that they had was money.  There's no chance that they did something hugely evil for an ethical reason.

[Vladdirescu87]

Of course it's just a George's opinion (as an expert), you may to agree or to disagree with it.

[CjMapope]

omg haha, here we go again, everyone thinking they know why BTC is up, like read the damn CODE, it will ALWAYS go up unless someone dumps it  
The ransomware used BTC as it was un-reversible, that is all lol.
NOW, that's NOT to say it hasen't had that EFFECT it may have just gotten the word out there "bitcoin", remember ONE of BTC greatest traits is the brand in itself, huge!
It kinda made BTC look bad, but cmon, guns don't kill people , people do. Btc isn't a bad thing, people can just USE it for bad things, like anything really, i can beat someone to death with a fish, but we don't condemn the fish! haha

[Kava]

I do not think this is 100% true, it might be. But without proof, I don't know.

I don't know if the plan worked, does anyone have proof that the popularity actually went up on BTC?

And what evidence can there be? Criminals will not tell you exactly. But I very much doubt that this will positively affect the popularity of bitcoin. Most likely spoil his reputation a little

[Kprawn]

I do not think this is 100% true, it might be. But without proof, I don't know.

I don't know if the plan worked, does anyone have proof that the popularity actually went up on BTC?

And what evidence can there be? Criminals will not tell you exactly. But I very much doubt that this will positively affect the popularity of bitcoin. Most likely spoil his reputation a little

Why? Because some no name wannabe site on the internet pulled something out of their ass and sold it as facts? They have zero proof that this

is the reason why the malware were created. Any person with basic logic, would never try to promote something that are backed by criminal

actions. You have to be blind not to see that..... Do you think Silkroad or MtGox was good for Bitcoin? It nearly destroyed Bitcoin, but people

saw the truth in the end and things were turned around. There are too many people who use Bitcoin legitimately for Bitcoin to be all bad, like

these sites are making it out to be. 

[richardsNY]

It's mind boggling how the quality of 'news' articles has dropped to an all time low. In order to put something in your article, everything needs to be fact-checked. In this cases there is nothing that points towards what the main subject claims, and thus this article shouldn't be created, or it at least should be written in a whole different context. Amateurs.

[South Park]

At first I didn't see it in this way. All that could of come from it was bad press just as it did when silk road introduced bitcoin to the masses in it's first wave. This is the second.
But ever since it was put into the public wildness the virus has bought attention to it, whether that be negative, it is still world wide press and has the viewers know what bitcoin is and then makes them, forced in a way, to find out how they will be able to obtain it so they can pay these ransoms in exchange for their data.
Which is a shame really but a a harsh reality.
The price did jump $400 since it has been made public of how to make a payment to these cyber terrorists.
What else do you call them other than hackers and just plain bounty hunters.
It would of been made 100x worst if not for the kill switch being triggerd to stop this terrorist attack on the hospitals, schools, offices and call centers around the globe.
Even a Russian interior minister was not spared from being exploited by this vriruses outreach.

https://www.rt.com/viral/389252-nsa-hacking-tool-eternalrocks/

wcry-wannacry-ransomware-devastates-across-globe

There are many that believe that any publicity is good publicity, so in a twisted way it could make sense, just look at how many actors, musicians and the like engage in all kind of twisted behaviors so they can get a little publicity for themselves and their works.

[cr1776]

Of course it's just a George's opinion (as an expert), you may to agree or to disagree with it.

With the title "WannaCry Disclosure: It Was Developed to Promote Bitcoin" - which implies fact.

Whether someone is an "expert" or not, one has to rely on facts to base an opinion, otherwise their opinion is just that, opinion and any expertise is irrelevant.

[freedomno1]

Yes. That is true. They created this wannaCry malware to promote bitcoin. But not in a good way. Sure it increases the popularity of bitcoin. But i don't think their impression about bitcoin will be good. For me its more on negative than positive. Hackers are very hard to track. And now, its even more because they use bitcoin.

What we learned from all the negative media on Donald Trump and shade they throw out is that all press can be utilized to lower advertising costs. Only thing is Bitcoin doesn't shill to promote the narrative directly, it has the Bitcoin Foundation for that ^^.

[slaz26]

Yes. That is true. They created this wannaCry malware to promote bitcoin. But not in a good way. Sure it increases the popularity of bitcoin. But i don't think their impression about bitcoin will be good. For me its more on negative than positive. Hackers are very hard to track. And now, its even more because they use bitcoin.

What we learned from all the negative media on Donald Trump and shade they throw out is that all press can be utilized to lower advertising costs. Only thing is Bitcoin doesn't shill to promote the narrative directly, it has the Bitcoin Foundation for that ^^.

Sometimes negative advertising brings more effect than traditional advertising. Perhaps because of this virus bitcoin will really become more popular.

[MCS23]

Yes. That is true. They created this wannaCry malware to promote bitcoin. But not in a good way. Sure it increases the popularity of bitcoin. But i don't think their impression about bitcoin will be good. For me its more on negative than positive. Hackers are very hard to track. And now, its even more because they use bitcoin.

What we learned from all the negative media on Donald Trump and shade they throw out is that all press can be utilized to lower advertising costs. Only thing is Bitcoin doesn't shill to promote the narrative directly, it has the Bitcoin Foundation for that ^^.

Sometimes negative advertising brings more effect than traditional advertising. Perhaps because of this virus bitcoin will really become more popular.

The main thing is not to frighten the potential user and not be scared or who planned to study the bitcoin technology more thoroughly.