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DP59 Wannacry Ransomware
Ransomware being the latest threat in history, this form of ransomware brought further attention to the issue at hand. While Gameover ZeuS targeted people, this ransomware cryptoworm attacked en mass.
In May 2017, the world had to face off with what’s known as the WannaCry ransomware attack. The attack affected over 230,000 computers across 150 countries. Damages reported to be hundreds of millions to billions of dollars. The attack overall lasted for a few days before it was cleaned up.
Going into specifics, WannaCry targeted exclusively Microsoft Windows computers by encrypting data and demanding ransom payments via Bitcoin. What was also unique about this cryptoworm is that it had a transport mechanism which meant it could spread itself automatically without people needing to click on something or perform a certain action.
Though if we are to be technical with this those infected did do a certain action. That is they failed to download the patches that Microsoft was issuing. You see there was an exploit that this malware used and that the exploit was patched up in previous patches. However users who didn’t get the patches or were using older Windows systems became infected.
What’s worse is WannaCry also installed backdoors onto those infected systems, opening them to more attacks in the future.
The only way the attack stopped was due to Microsoft releasing emergency patches. They also found a kill switch to prevent computers from spreading further. These patches came to all computers but also was offered to older computers who had Windows XP, Windows 2003 and Windows 8.
This attack showed how quickly people were on top of the situation, that being said the damage was still quite extensive. Out of the 230,000 cases, there was a reported 327 payments made to this ransomware. This totaled 51.62396539 in Bitcoin valued at over $130,000 at the time.
What this scenario shows is how it pays to be prudent and aware. In most situations with ransomware, you won’t be getting that data back. This was the case with WannaCry victims who said they never got their data back after they paid their ransom. It’s also wise to get all the latest patches and updates. While some updates you may not care for, updates typically come packed with a variety of other features that often go unnoticed - like security updates - and yet are crucial to the system.
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By dpappRansomware being the latest threat in history, this form of ransomware brought further attention to the issue at hand. While Gameover ZeuS targeted people, this ransomware cryptoworm attacked en mass.
In May 2017, the world had to face off with what’s known as the WannaCry ransomware attack. The attack affected over 230,000 computers across 150 countries. Damages reported to be hundreds of millions to billions of dollars. The attack overall lasted for a few days before it was cleaned up.
Going into specifics, WannaCry targeted exclusively Microsoft Windows computers by encrypting data and demanding ransom payments via Bitcoin. What was also unique about this cryptoworm is that it had a transport mechanism which meant it could spread itself automatically without people needing to click on something or perform a certain action.
Though if we are to be technical with this those infected did do a certain action. That is they failed to download the patches that Microsoft was issuing. You see there was an exploit that this malware used and that the exploit was patched up in previous patches. However users who didn’t get the patches or were using older Windows systems became infected.
What’s worse is WannaCry also installed backdoors onto those infected systems, opening them to more attacks in the future.
The only way the attack stopped was due to Microsoft releasing emergency patches. They also found a kill switch to prevent computers from spreading further. These patches came to all computers but also was offered to older computers who had Windows XP, Windows 2003 and Windows 8.
This attack showed how quickly people were on top of the situation, that being said the damage was still quite extensive. Out of the 230,000 cases, there was a reported 327 payments made to this ransomware. This totaled 51.62396539 in Bitcoin valued at over $130,000 at the time.
What this scenario shows is how it pays to be prudent and aware. In most situations with ransomware, you won’t be getting that data back. This was the case with WannaCry victims who said they never got their data back after they paid their ransom. It’s also wise to get all the latest patches and updates. While some updates you may not care for, updates typically come packed with a variety of other features that often go unnoticed - like security updates - and yet are crucial to the system.