On Friday, many NHS hospitals had to turn away patients after WannaCry locked up computers, forcing the closure of wards and emergency rooms. Nissan Motor Manufacturing U.K.in Tyne and Wear, England, halted production after the ransomware infected some of their systems.
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It comes as China prepares to enforce a wide-reaching cyber security law that US business groups say will threaten the operations of foreign firms in China with strict local data storage laws and stringent surveillance requirements.
Microsoft released a patch for the flaw in March after hackers stole the exploit from the NSA. “We have not got any reports of widespread infection of the ransomware”, she said. There are government-backed initiatives to help small companies with cybersecurity, such as the UK’s Cyber Essentials, but these don’t have the scale to reach everyone or even identify and help those most in need.
The flaw in Windows behind a huge cyber-attack affecting organisations around the world, including some United Kingdom hospitals, can be traced back to the US National Security Agency (NSA) – raising questions over the US government’s decision to keep such flaws a secret.
Microsoft Corp President Brad Smith sharply criticized the USA government on Sunday for “stockpiling” software flaws that it often can not protect, citing recent leaks of both NSA and Central Intelligence Agency hacking tools.
He added, “The governments of the world should treat this attack as a wake-up call”.
“We’re looking at many decades of building complex systems – one on top of the other – with no effort to go back to fix what we did wrong along the way”, said Wendy Nather, principal security strategist at Duo Security, who has worked in security for 22 years. India’s cyber security agency CERT has issued a red alert advising internet users in the country to update their Windows systems to the latest version and encouraged users not to pay the ransom as this does not guarantee files will be released.
For those running Windows 10 or Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 systems, which has automatic updates turned on, you’ll remain protected from WannaCry.
Many businesses and organisations had IT experts working 24/7 to prevent new infections and to stop the “WannaCry” virus from spreading.
The attack held users hostage by freezing their computers, popping up a red screen with the words, “Oops, your files have been encrypted!” and demanding money through online bitcoin payment – USD300 at first, rising to $600 before it destroys files hours later.
Dr Dharminder Nagar, MD, Paras Healthcare says that the recent ransomware attack is like a nightmare come true.
The attack, Smith says, “represents a completely unintended but disconcerting link between the two most serious forms of cybersecurity threats in the world today – nation-state action and organized criminal action”. It threatens to delete files within seven days if no payment is made.
The good news is that home users are very unlikely to be affected. The fact that there was a “kill switch” in the ransomware, which a researcher was able to activate on Friday, stopping the attack at least temporarily, suggests the coders were sloppy. Parts of the website may not work as expected without them.
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Finally, keep in mind to back up your important files regularly.
