What happened?
WannaCry ransomware has launched an attack in over 150 countries, impacting over 10,000 organizations such as health ministries, banks and telecommunication companies and 200,000 individuals. PCs/servers without Cloud Backup will have difficulties retrieving data when an attack strikes.
What is WannaCry and how does it work?
Some individuals found their PCs affected with the notorious ransomware this Monday. The virus takes control and tries to encrypt users’ “FILES”. Once successful, it will request you to make payment to get back your files (decrypt). Ransomware blocks your data access until a ransom is paid – it was combined with a worm inside application, a program that is able to replicate and spread to other computers. According to some Security Experts, there will be another attack to come. So make sure your PCs are ready with the most updated patch files and your security is up to date.
How WannaCry Ransomware gets onto a computer
The most common ways in which Ransomware Trojans are installed are:
- Via phishing emails
- As a result of visiting a website that contains a malicious program
After the Trojan has been installed, it will either encrypt information that’s stored on the victim’s computer or block the computer from running normally – while also leaving a ransom message that demands the payment of a fee, in order to decrypt the files or restore the system. In most cases, the ransom message will appear when the user restarts their computer after the infection has taken effect.
What has Microsoft done?
As many corporations are still using the old operating systems, such as Windows XP, Microsoft has decided to take action, and announced a new patch to block the new ransomware. It’s called ‘WannaCrypt Window XP Patch’.
Exabytes’ Shared Hosting Clients Are Protected
If you’re an Exabytes customer, don’t fret! We at Exabytes ensure all Windows-based systems (managed services clients) are fully patched and SMB ports (139, 445) blocked from all externally accessible hosts. Read more. Exabytes places security as our the highest priority and we are always looking to innovate and implement security features to better secure our customers’ sites and emails.
How to be proactive and prevent future attacks?
- Be wary of suspicious emails and attachment — SpamExperts is an enterprise grade anti-spam solution that will help you get rid of the surge of spam and related threats that are constantly congesting your inboxes.
- Backup your file to Cloud regularly — We would like to recommend all users to run a full data backup for their web files and databases to your local desktop/laptop/external drive/cloud drives.
- Update your Microsoft Windows Operating System —From time to time, Microsoft will release multiple security patches to protect your OS from cyberattack. In fact, Microsoft released a security update which addressed the vulnerability to “WannaCrypt” malicious software back in March 2017.The vulnerability does not exist within Windows 10, the latest version of the software, but is present in all versions of Windows prior to that, dating back to Windows XP.
- Get Protected by Anti-Virus Programs
** Exabytes $1.99 Web Hosting packages and WordPress Hosting come with 14-day backup retention.
Prevention is better than cure
This frightening episode of cyber attack reminds us to always be aware when browsing the Internet and always stay updated with the latest software versions, patches and updates.
