Easy fix to protect your PC against the spreading global cyber attack
Posted May 15, 2017 7:42 am.
Last Updated May 15, 2017 9:47 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
TOKYO, JAPAN (NEWS 1130) – It spread in Asia overnight, and there are worries variants of the ransomware behind a crippling global cyber attack could pop up on even more PCs this week as security agencies scramble to find the hackers behind it.
The rapidly replicating WannaCry worm has run roughshod through IT networks in 150 countries since Friday after first being reported in Britain’s hospital system, Germany’s national rail network and many other organizations, companies and government networks around the world.
There are reports some organizations in Canada have been affected but are keeping a low profile about the impact on their systems.
The malicious software paralyses a computer, demanding a ransom in exchange for the freeing of a user’s data.
Security agencies are warning of potential copycat attacks or variants of the original computer worm spreading through unprotected PCs running Microsoft Windows.
“Imagine a guy steals a TV from your house and then knocks on your door and asks you to negotiate,” explains CNN Tech Reporter Samuel Burke. “That’s exactly what’s happening. Some of these ransomware groups actually want to have good customer service. I can’t recommend you pay $300 to a criminal — you have to decide what your data is worth — but at the end of the day, these groups want to have a good reputation so that people have an incentive to pay.”
Burke says some ransomware even includes a “chat” service where you can talk to a customer support agent, who just happens to be a criminal, but there is an easy way to avoid being put in that position.
“All you need to keep safe from this is make sure you have the latest Windows update — that annoying pop-up in the right hand corner that says to restart your computer. If you’ve done that since March, you are safe.”
The malware exploits a Microsoft Windows vulnerability in previous versions of Windows and the company is blasting the US National Security Agency, which apparently discovered and exploited the flaw for intelligence purposes.
The NSA tools were stolen by hackers and dumped on the Internet.
