North Korea has been linked to WannaCry ransomware. And despite the real horror, this worldwide hack created, we have to ask. Is North Korea’s dictator a spoiled kid or a genius?

Answer: a Spoiled kid.

Before I go too far and people call me an unAmerican traitor. When I say genius, I’m not saying that WannaCry ransomware is “genius.” Or that all the people that suffered and/or paid deserve the anguish. I do not believe that. But it does appear to fit into the times. It’s now well documented that the U.S. government’s technology infrastructure is out of date. And WannaCry did a wonderful job of highlighting that fact.

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“Back in my day, computers filled an entire room. Actually, this is the same one we had back then.”

I’m also pleased to report that it wasn’t us. With the rise of leaked sensitive data that may be putting national security at risk. And the rise of violent protesters rallying in the streets. Destroying property in their local communities in hopes of impacting national politics. I think it would be easy to assume a stateside group might have attempted to take things into their own hands. Making a bold effort to throw egg on the faces of U.S. banks and the government. Forcing people to recognize how powerless we all are at the hands of devious U.S. hackers. But it wasn’t us. In fact, we stopped it.

Now, as the government looks to update our tech infrastructure, we have to wonder.

How is it that North Korea is bringing us to our knees? The Russians allegedly tampered with our elections and the Chinese have been hacking us for years. The answer is simple. This is the behavior of a kid who wants more allowance from his parents.

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“It’s either an extra $1.40 or I walk. Your move, parental units.”

The Russians and the Chinese may have stolen information about weapons and finances. And these moves may have provided them with a tactical advantage or leverage over our politicians. But they didn’t attack normal people. They didn’t bring hospitals to a halt potentially jeopardizing the health of millions. North Korea did. And what makes North Korean leadership look even more spoiled and insolent? They can’t access the money.

According to the Washington Post, the scam brought in $140,000.00 in Bitcoin.

According to the market rate at the time I’m writing this, that’s $380,654,400.00 U.S. dollars. That’s big money, especially for a malware scam. But due to the nature of Bitcoin (blockchain) and what is most likely a clear oversight on covering their tracks. Nobody will help them cash out. It’s like a stick-up in a Vegas casino. Stealing people’s casino chips at gunpoint and then wandering over to a cashier and asking to trade those chips for cash. Everybody in the room knows those are ill-gotten chips. They would be worthless. And you broke the law.

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“You must be mistaken, I brought these chips from home.”

It is possible that the North Koreans behind WannaCry never intended to cash in their chips. Maybe they just wanted to prove they could do it. And it’s enough that people had to lose their money and time in the process. Maybe. Or maybe this is the move of a spoiled child who feels like the big kids are always making fun of him. And despite his best efforts, the North Korean dictator’s scientists lack the necessary intelligence or resources to build missiles that can reach the U.S. I really don’t know.

However, I can say with absolute certainty that the U.S. government didn’t stop the malware in its tracks.

A Brit employed by the U.S. private sector stopped it. And while it wasn’t a U.S. hacker or group of hackers that brought so much of the world to a curious standstill last May. It was a U.S. company that allowed for the vulnerability in their operating software and then expected the whole world to pay to fix it right up until they finally issued a patch. That sounds like the behavior of a spoiled kid or genius just the same.

Leading this small-time-tech-blogger to wonder, who is really at fault for this voracious malware scam? The hacker who wrote the code to exploit the weakness? Or the company that left the weakness unchecked. Either one could be described as a spoiled kid or genius. But probably just a spoiled kid.

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