The ransomware that took down over 100,000 computers across the world would have done extensive damage but for a 22-year-old cyber security analyst who accidentally 'shut it down'.According to reports, the analyst stopped WannaCry ransomware's spread by spending just Rs 686 to accidentally register a domain name hidden in the malware.It was during this he stumbled on a kill switch for the ransomware. The hackers built the kill switch, but, the reports say, did not register the site. The analyst's registration activated the site and slowed the spread.The attack, however, had by that time infected tens of thousands of computers. "We are on a downward slope, the infections are extremely few, because the malware is not able to connect to the registered domain," said Symantec's Thakur. The British-based researcher who foiled the ransomware's spread said he hadn't seen any such tweaks yet, "but they will."

Source: Economic Times May 13, 2017 13:15 UTC