EternalRomance is a sophisticated cyber attack platform, also known as an exploit or vulnerability, targeting Window-based operating systems. It was made public in April 2017 as a part of a leak of files from the Shadow Brokers, a hacking group, which had gained access to some software used by the National Security Agency (NSA).
EternalRomance is classified as an exploit for the popular Microsoft Windows Server Message Block (SMB) protocol. This protocol is used frequently for file and printer sharing across networks. The EternalRomance exploit is theorized to have been created by the NSA in order to gather intelligence from unsuspecting computers.
When infected by the exploit, the attacker is able to gain remote access to the targeted computer and perform malicious activities, including data exfiltration and user credential stealing. Such an attack can happen without the user’s knowledge or permission.
EternalRomance has been used in various notorious cyber attacks, including the WannaCry ransomware attack in May 2017, and the NotPetya attack in June 2017.
To mitigate the risk of EternalRomance infection, Microsoft introduced a security update for its products in March 2017. Computer users and system administrators should keep their systems updated and patched to ensure they are not vulnerable to such exploits.
