Defending an organisation from a ransomware attack, and other kinds of cyber-attack, should be the first priority in an era where data has become the oil.
On 12th May 2017, the WannaCry ransomware attack spread rapidly and affected at least 150 countries worldwide. Companies and public sector organisations fell foul of it. For example, at least 40 of the UK’s National Health Service hospital trusts were hit, leading to a multitude of medical appointments and treatment being cancelled. The cyber-attack also hit German train stations, throwing Germany’s railway network Deutsche Bahn into utter chaos.
WannaCry, which is also known as WannaCrypt, used tools that were originally developed by the US’s National Security Agency (NSA) to trick victims into opening malicious email malware attachments. These were attached to spam emails containing invoices, job offers, security warnings and other seemingly legitimate files. If someone happened to click on one of them, the ransomware encrypted data on the victim’s computer to demand a ransom – according to The Telegraph’s journalist Chris Graham on 13th May 2017 – of $300 to $600 to prevent the files from being deleted. To restore access to their data the victims were required to pay the ransom to the cyber-criminals responsible for the attack.
Learn how to defend your organisation proactively, rather than cry over the consequences of an attack. #YearInReview
Published by IT Pro Portal. By-lined to: David Trossell, CEO and CTO of Bridgeworks. Published on 8th June 2017.
Media-Insert Communications 
Leave a comment