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Fast-moving cyberattacks wreak havoc worldwide

31 Comments
By Rob Lever and Robin Millard

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© 2017 AFP

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31 Comments
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Important detail: ransomware often spreads to any connected hard drives, including your backup drive. 

So either have a disconnected backup and rotate drives regularly, or backup to a different medium like tape etc.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

Sad, to hear.

Like Japan older Software, not enough Security and lack of IT skills.

But sure certain posters that say IT in japan is low and behind the times will be along shortly.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

TThis is a case of unpatched systems just like the article says.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Don't run Windows.

Stay on patched, supported, OS releases.

Keep all applications patched. This is trivial on non-Windows systems.

Don't use disk sharing for your versioned backups.

"Pull" the backups, do not "push" them.

AV is less than 80% effective, usually closer to 50% effective. Don't expect it to protect you, if you must run Windows.

On other OSes, the security architecture limits the possibility of harming the OS, just you user files are at risk. This is mitigated by having versioned backups.

BTW, I'm an IT enterprise architect for my day job and a former CIO.

-2 ( +3 / -5 )

Good thing Trump appointed Rudy Giuliani in charge of cyber security... I'm sure he's up to that task.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Some people just want to watch the world burn.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

As if the NHS hasn't enough dealing with a political party who wants to destroy it.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

It only hits OUTDATED windows machines.

But sadly this is far more common than it should be. In fact I was using a massive computer lab this week with nothing but Windows XP on it. Microsoft has straight up and said stop using XP, its not updated anymore and it's not safe.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

zichi - it's also been reported in Japan (saw a news item in Japanese about it), also can be seen here:

https://intel.malwaretech.com/botnet/wcrypt

So far, no Deaths have been attributed to this latest Ransomware attack.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

More news about the story :-

https://isc.sans.edu/diary/22412

https://redmondmag.com/articles/2017/05/12/ransomware-outbreak-targeting-windows-smb-flaw.aspx

Microsoft have recently added detection for it within their latest patches for Windows Defender.

As for other Anti-virus/Anti-Ransomware tools, one BBC News item mentioned that Kaspersky and Bitdefender were both already able to detect this particular strain of Ransomware attack.

Kaspersky doesn't appear to have a free version, so below are the URLs for Bitdefender's:

https://www.bitdefender.com/solutions/free.html

https://www.bitdefender.com/solutions/anti-ransomware-tool.html

and whilst on that site, you may wish to see what other concerns they've identified:

https://labs.bitdefender.com/category/whitepapers/

Alternative AntiVirus solutions, can be found by simply searching the internet, e.g.

http://www.techradar.com/news/the-best-free-antivirus

Which AV solution you choose, really is a matter of trial and error as to how you use your Computer. Do a bit of "Googling" and decide yourself, or just work your way down the reported top 10 solutions.

When it comes to the Internet, always be cautious.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

"Ransomware becomes particularly nasty when it infects institutions like hospitals, where it can put people's lives in danger," said Kroustek, the Avast analyst.

I usually don't blame victims of a crime, but in this case I can't help to note that it is particularly unresponsible when the management of hospitals neglects IT security where it can put people's lives in danger. The infection could have been avoided.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Especially if the NSA hadn't been so easy to hack

What can be hacked, will be hacked. Data will leak. Inevitably. The only question is when. Remember this when your government (or any private company for that matter) tells you next time that your data would be safe with them.

One of the problems in this particular case is also, that government agencies keep security flaws for themselves when they discover them instead of informing the maker to fix them. They get a small tactical advantage but leave the whole country vulnerable to attacks from outside. For WannayCry, can we thus say "thank you, Obama"?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The infection could have been avoided.

Especially if the NSA hadn't been so easy to hack

Or it was leaked by another Snowden-like insider

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Anything stored Electronically, and connected to the Internet, is not going to be 100% accessible to you alone.

If you think otherwise.... then you are the fool, so don't blame others. Just be prepared.

It doesn't just stop with the simple blind encrypting of data, but also the extraction, or even manipulation of data. Just imagine, your Medical records being changed to show your Blood type being changed, or you to have no sensitivity to certain medications... A new type of Hitman exists...

Get Real Folks. Ask questions, What if, and get Answers, write them down, and be Paranoid. Ideally record these answers, and keep them safe for future use - should you need them within a Court of Law at a later date.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Or it was leaked by another Snowden-like insider

Thank Goodness for the likes of Snowden. Were it not for him, or others like him, we would never understand Security of information, or... what was being done with that information that was less secure.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

zichi:

And you think those cant be hacked ? Or in the old-fashioned style changed /switched ...

0 ( +0 / -0 )

zichi - We already have the 5000+ Medical bracelets, and guess what, that information isn't stored upon your bracelet / medical card - it's stored elsewhere. Your bracelet stores only your ID to that information. And even were they to change it to a chip on your bracelet, then that could still be targeted and changed.

For SciFi fans, the Last BattleStar Galactica TV Series did touch upon computer security situation relevant to todays situation. All their latest Tech Supported Ships were wiped out by the Robot Society simply because everything was interconnected without barriers. The BSG survived since it was Old-School, and wasn't.. it was designed to have separated systems per function. Thank goodness the US Nuclear Missile launch system is separated from the Internet.... or was.

Perhaps, we need to look upon those with imagination for ideas as to what we can do to prevent issues in the future.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Also Zichi, Microsoft only issued the SMB patch this month... which is sort of closing the gate after the horse has bolted. One should also look at the delivery mechanism.. Microsofts email system - Hotmail/Outlook, could do a lot better than it current does, in that respect.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Just make sure to not open attachments from suspicious emails. Doing a 15 minute best practices course on Youtube should be more than enough

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

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