The brutality has also spread to the hospitals leaving no past records of the diagnosis of patients that cast them away on the hopeless island. What is this WannaCry ransomware? How different and powerful is it from the previous ransomwares? Let dig deep into some analysis and at last we will discuss how to protect yourself and your data from being attacked.
What is WannaCry Ransomware?
Just like any other ransomware, this WannaCry ransomware is also a type of encryption virus that encrypts the data on the computer and demands huge amounts of money to get it back decrypted.WannaCry is named with WannaCrypt, WannaCrypt0r2.0, WannaDecryptor aliases and is spreading rapidly inside the networks like a rat from computer to computer in no time. More than 200,000 computers were infected over 99 countries including the health systems, parcel services like FedEx, police department websites in India and so on.
Sounds scary? It should be
This might sound scary to you as it should be. Ransomware is one of the most annoying virus that a computer catches. Once it is attacked, we will have two options left, one is to pay the huge amounts and another is to format the whole computer and reinstall the operating system fresh.For individuals, there won’t be important data other than family and friends; photos and videos. As there are unlimited online storages available to us like the one Google offers us on ‘Photos’ app, I guess this won’t be a problem; One can easily format the whole computer and have a fresh copy installed.
If you have any important documents and files on the personal computer, it is a scary situation for you too. Organizations will have to lose unbacked up data once they are attacked with this virus, however.
Which computers are at risk?
Computers running on the Windows operating system are vulnerable to WannaCry encryptor virus. The virus is focused to exploit forcefully on Windows 10 as well. That means the previous versions like Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows 8.1 aren’t safe either.Preventive measures to WannaCry
Just like it is said that prevention is better than cure, it is always better to take precautions to safeguard yourself and your data on the computers. These preventive measures can be applied from personal computers to the organizational network of systems.Allow Microsoft updates
The only one who would protect you from being attacked by WannaCry or any other future deadly virus is the original software developer himself – Microsoft, in this case.Microsoft has already released the patch for the underlying vulnerability so recently and you can expect it anytime via OTA. Fortunately or unexpectedly, it has also released updates for the support stopped operating systems Windows XP, Server 2003 and Windows 8. This gesture is most welcomed by Windows users from Microsoft.
Microsoft patch update MS17-010 – https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/security/ms17-010.aspx
Customer guidance for legacy platforms (older operating systems) – https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/msrc/2017/05/12/customer-guidance-for-wannacrypt-attacks/
Disable SMBv1 if not able to apply the patch – https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2696547/how-to-enable-and-disable-smbv1,-smbv2,-and-smbv3-in-windows-vista,-windows-server-2008,-windows-7,-windows-server-2008-r2,-windows-8,-and-windows-server-2012
Allow antivirus updates
Let the antivirus software that you are using on your computer install virus definition updates automatically. Let your antivirus company work this out for you.AVG antivirus WannaCry support page – https://support.avg.com/answers?id=906b0000000DmSpAAK
Symantec WannaCry solution (Norton) – https://www.symantec.com/connect/blogs/what-you-need-know-about-wannacry-ransomware
Norton WannaCry community page – https://community.norton.com/en/forums/which-windows-version-was-just-attacked
Kaspersky forum page for WannaCry – https://forum.kaspersky.com/index.php?s=e600f03dd2cc99051a40779cc2d7b47b&showtopic=370192
Do not download suspicious files
Some files on the internet would be drooling some. You would want to download them without even knowing who sent them or what are they. If you do it, that means you have fallen for the bait of the hacker.Do not download any suspicious email attachments or torrents without any knowledge. If you get any attachments from your friends, call them up and ask if they did it themselves or it was unintentional. Figuring out the authenticity of the emails will reduce the risks of being attacked with WannaCrypt virus.
Stay away from pop-ups and downloads for a while
If you don’t have proper knowledge on computer and internet security, better stay away from downloads for a while, at least until you get the software patch updates to your computer OTA.Most of the download sites will open popups unknowingly which may take your input actions as a trigger and exploit the ransomware on to the computer. I recommend you to stay away from downloads for a while.
Always have a backup of your data
It is said a thousand times and over again. Always have a backup of your data to control the damage done by this such new virus on computers. Always have your data synched on to your Google Drive or online secure place. Even having it on the other disks as local copies is appreciated either.Already infected with WannaCry?
If you notice a screen locking down your computer and asking to pay money to decrypt, never be intrigued to pay a dime. This not only encourages the hacker but also doesn't guarantee the recovery of the encrypted data.To get back your data, follow the instructions provided by the following country computer emergency readiness teams. Here are the solutions offered by corresponding country governments for their citizens to fight against the attack.
US-Computer Emergency Readiness team - https://www.us-cert.gov/ncas/alerts/TA17-132A
National Cyber Security Center UK – https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/guidance/ransomware-latest-ncsc-guidance
IN-Computer Emergency Readiness team – http://www.cyberswachhtakendra.gov.in/alerts/wannacry_ransomware.html
Cooperative Republic of Guyana security – http://www.motp.gov.gy/index.php/2104-cybersecurity-alert-wanna-cry-or-wanna-decryptor-ransomware
Homeland Security-Washington – https://www.dhs.gov/news/2017/05/12/dhs-statement-ongoing-ransomware-attacks
Singapore-Computer Emergency Response Team – https://www.csa.gov.sg/singcert/news/advisories-alerts/wannacry-ransomware
Government of Philippines – http://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/987348
United Arab Emirates – https://www.tra.gov.ae/en/media-hub/press-releases/2017/5/13/tra-notification-about-wannacry-virus.aspx
Government of Israel –https://cert.gov.il/Updates/Alerts/SiteAssets/CERT-IL-ALERT-W-160%20(1).pdf
Spain-CERT – https://www.ccn-cert.cni.es/seguridad-al-dia/comunicados-ccn-cert/4464-ataque-masivo-de-ransomware-que-afecta-a-un-elevado-numero-de-organizaciones-espanolas.html
Paraguay-CERT – https://www.cert.gov.py/index.php/noticias/campana-de-distribucion-del-ransomware-wannacry
I have tried to bring together at my reach all countrywide instructions to fight back against WannaCry cryptor. Comment below if you need any help regarding the information and identification of this ransomware in your system. I will try to help you at my reach.
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