A top Homeland Security official says the U.S. government was unable to fully measure the scale and impact of two recent ransomware outbreaks, dubbed WannaCry and NotPetya, in America due to a lack of private sector engagement.

"He is going to vigorously defend himself against these charges," one lawyer said.

Marcus Hutchins, 23, was arrested for his alleged role in creating the Kronos banking trojan.

The responsible parties may have relied on Monero since it hides both ends of a transaction, as well as the amount.

Recorded Future's findings of "a near absence of malicious cyber activity" from within North Korea itself support the longstanding assumption that Pyongyang conducts cyber-operations from outside its own borders.

"In reviewing the updates for this month, some vulnerabilities were identified that pose elevated risk of cyber attacks by government organizations."