UPSC Prelims 2018 GS Paper I · Q58 of 100 General Science easy

The terms 'WannaCry, Petya and EternalBlue' sometimes mentioned in the news recently are related to

  1. (a) Exoplanets
  2. (b) Cryptocurrency
  3. (c) Cyber attacks ✓ UPSC's answer
  4. (d) Mini satellites

Why the answer is (c)

• WannaCry (May 2017) and Petya/NotPetya (June 2017) were ransomware attacks that encrypted files on hundreds of thousands of computers worldwide, hitting hospitals, shipping firms and Indian companies — option (c).

• Both spread using EternalBlue, an exploit of a Windows SMB vulnerability developed by the US NSA and leaked by the Shadow Brokers.

• They are unrelated to exoplanets (a), cryptocurrency (b) — though ransoms were demanded in Bitcoin — or satellites (d).

• Hence option (c).

Why the other options are wrong

(a) Exoplanets
These are malware names, not exoplanets.
(b) Cryptocurrency
They are ransomware, not cryptocurrencies.
(d) Mini satellites
They are not satellites.

Asked in the GS Paper I of the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination 2018, held on 3 June 2018. Question and answer key: Union Public Service Commission. Explanation: UPSC Answer Check.

Reading the answer is not the same as getting it right under a clock. Practise this question with UPSC's negative marking, and anything you miss goes into an error notebook until you get it right twice.

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