Showing posts with label WannaCry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label WannaCry. Show all posts

Thursday 18 May 2017

Cybersecurity Awareness: 21 Best Practices To Forestall ‘’WannaCry’’ Ransomware, Cyberattacks


Introduction: A unique strain of ransomware known as ‘’WannaCry’’or ‘’Wanna DeCryptor’’, ‘’wcry’’, infected more than 300,000 vulnerable systems globally, across 150 countries since Friday, 12 May, 2017.  WannaCry installs Doublepulsar - a backdoor that allows the device to be remotely controlled. The malware freezes the infected device, pops up a red screen with the message, "Oops, your files have been encrypted!" It goes ahead to demand ransom payment in Bitcoin (equivalent to $300-$600) before subsequently destroying the encrypted files if payment is not made. To offer an insight on the consequences of the WannaCry ransomware attack, the Chinese state media says about 29,372 institutions was infected along with hundreds of thousands of devices. In Japan, 2,000 computers at 600 locations were reportedly affected. The ‘’WannaCry’’ransomware attack also denied access to confidential patient information, stalled x-rays, surgeries and other critical healthcare services in at least 47 hospitals under the auspices of the United Kingdom’s National Health Service (NHS). The list goes on. Envisage a Stuxnet cyberattack on a vulnerable nuclear warhead or submarine. Tragedy!

Tuesday 16 May 2017

Cybersecurity: Nigerian Govt Issues Advisory on Global Ransomware Cyberattack

Nigeria's National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA, on Saturday issued an emergency advisory to Nigerians about the proliferation of a rampaging ransomware malware strain that emerged across the globe recently.