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Who answered for NotPetya, and what followed?
Summary
On 15 February 2018 London and Washington publicly blamed the Russian military for the June 2017 malware that struck Ukraine hardest.
Who was behind NotPetya, and what would the accusers do about it? On 15 February 2018 the United Kingdom government and the United States White House said the Russian military was responsible for launching the malware in June 2017.
What the attack was
The attacks began on 27 June 2017 and swamped the websites of Ukrainian organisations, including banks, ministries, newspapers and electricity firms. Similar infections were reported in France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. ESET estimated on 28 June 2017 that 80% of all infections were in Ukraine, with Germany second at about 9%. The Ukrainian government stated on 28 June 2017 that the attack had been halted.
On 30 June 2017, the Associated Press reported that experts agreed Petya was masquerading as ransomware while actually designed to cause maximum damage, with Ukraine the main target.
The accusation and the denial
The White House called NotPetya the most destructive and costly cyberattack in history. It said Russia would be met with international consequences, without specifying what they would be.
Russia denied responsibility. It dismissed the accusation as groundless, lacking evidence and Russophobic.
As of 15 February 2018, then, the attribution was public and the denial immediate, while the promised consequences remained undefined.
