<s>
DoublePulsar	B-Application
is	O
a	O
backdoor	O
implant	O
tool	O
developed	O
by	O
the	O
U.S.	O
National	O
Security	O
Agency	O
's	O
(	O
NSA	O
)	O
Equation	O
Group	O
that	O
was	O
leaked	O
by	O
The	O
Shadow	O
Brokers	O
in	O
early	O
2017	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
tool	O
infected	O
more	O
than	O
200,000	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
computers	O
in	O
only	O
a	O
few	O
weeks	O
,	O
and	O
was	O
used	O
alongside	O
EternalBlue	O
in	O
the	O
May	O
2017	O
WannaCry	O
ransomware	O
attack	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
variant	O
of	O
DoublePulsar	B-Application
was	O
first	O
seen	O
in	O
the	O
wild	O
in	O
March	O
2016	O
,	O
as	O
discovered	O
by	O
Symantec	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Sean	O
Dillon	O
,	O
senior	O
analyst	O
of	O
security	O
company	O
RiskSense	O
Inc.	O
,	O
first	O
dissected	O
and	O
inspected	O
DoublePulsar	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
He	O
said	O
that	O
the	O
NSA	O
exploits	O
are	O
"	O
10	O
times	O
worse	O
"	O
than	O
the	O
Heartbleed	B-Error_Name
security	O
bug	O
,	O
and	O
use	O
DoublePulsar	B-Application
as	O
the	O
primary	O
payload	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
DoublePulsar	B-Application
runs	O
in	O
kernel	O
mode	O
,	O
which	O
grants	O
cybercriminals	O
a	O
high	O
level	O
of	O
control	O
over	O
the	O
computer	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Once	O
installed	O
,	O
it	O
uses	O
three	O
commands	O
:	O
ping	B-Protocol
,	O
kill	B-Operating_System
,	O
and	O
exec	B-Operating_System
,	O
the	O
latter	O
of	O
which	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
load	O
malware	O
onto	O
the	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
