Months after Mr. Rivest submitted the MD6 proposal to N.I.S.T., a flaw was discovered, corrected and resubmitted. As with the original version, this correction was known only to a very small circle of elite cryptographers. Computers at their residences revealed direct links to smartsystem.com.ua, to TrafficConverter.biz and to the coding work and planning behind Conficker. The takedown of smartsystem.com.ua caused a significant but only temporary cessation of scareware; the criminals have moved on. Ransomware is the new plague, and it funnels money from victims by using Bitcoin and other anonymous payment methods.

Source: International New York Times June 29, 2019 18:22 UTC