But the worst hit appears to be from Russia and European countries such as France and Spain, but the US delivery service FedEx have also been effected. The WannaCrypt0r Ransomware is typical malware which encrypts all or at least important data on your computer. Mostly encrypts anything depending on the type of file it may be looking for, like MP4 or docx for example. Once the data has been encrypted you would be prompt with instructions telling you will need to pay up or say goodbye to your data.
Nice isn't it?
With the clock counting down you would have three options. One: Pay them in Bitcoin and hope your data is unlocked (buyers beware), Two: Panic and try to download some sort of program which promises to get your data back (Don't, this could cause the ransomeware to encrypted everything forever). Three: Get out an external USB hard drive and perform a backup and restore to the newest system image you have saved. Doing this for a home computer is pretty easy, doing this for a organisation is probably a nightmare. Let's not forget those who have been attacked: NHS, FedEx, Telefonica, Renault and among others may still be using older version of Windows. (Oh joy! Since it only effects Windows Systems)
Now I understand the need to stick with older version of OS's, a company may need to use certain software which may not be supported by newer versions of a OS. But in doing so, you can increase the danger of being attacked or hijacked if your computer or system is connected to the internet. Even if your older systems are discounted from the internet, it can only take a infected USB flash drive to cause all types of problems, I'm looking at you Stuxnet! So what's going to happen next? Well hopefully lessons can be learned but I'm quite doubtful this will cause much change.
WannaMakeYouCry!
Microsoft have come to the rescue by issuing an emergency patch for Windows XP. Seen as a unusual step for the tech giant for some since this was the same company trying so hard to make all Windows users use Windows 10. There has also been another hero in the mist of this madness and chaos. A UK blogger named MalwareTech spent £8 on a web address the ransomware was trying to contact. Once MalwareTech had full control of the web address, it allowed the blogger to find a kill switch to stop it from spreading. That's the really short version anyway, the long version can be found here. However know this doesn't fix the problem for the computer's who have already been infected by the ransomware, but at least the spread has been stopped for now.
WannaCrypt Attack Map: MalwareTech
While the recovery begins for many of the organisations effected by WannaCrypt0r, questions will be asked why we are still not updating our systems when we should be and why we allow older systems to be connected onto the internet. Let's all see how this turns out in the meantime and how badly effected these organisation are.
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