Wanna Cry? Many people do so consider this therapy (for your infected network)

On Friday, 12 May 2017, a ransomware attack named WannaCry was launched. It began on a single, compromised computer in Europe and almost immediately spread to over 230,000 infected computers in 130 countries. Three things made WannaCry an especially successful infection:

(1) it made use of stolen National Security Agency (NSA) technology called EternalBlue

(2) it focused on Windows computers which had not been security patched and

(3) in addition to the worm it also made use of automated Phishing emails. Although Microsoft had issued a security update on 14 March 2017 which would have stopped the worm, there were still enough systems which had not been properly updated to allow the attack to proliferate.

It all could have stopped before it started if everyone simply followed the basic rules of personal cyber defense:

(1) Always keep all software and your operating system updated (Mac, Linux, and Windows are all exploitable)

(2) Use extreme caution when dealing with email

   (a) Never open an attachment you did not 100% expect to receive

   (b) Always verify links sent to you in email (hover your mouse to check their destination before clicking - learn how to recognize suspicious URLs)

   (c) Make sure your antivirus includes email scanning

(3) Keep a regular backup of all your sensitive data on a non-networked storage device (the cloud, a thumb-drive, a detachable external disk drive, etc.)

Update and back-up immediately regardless of which operating system you are using. While this first round is defeated there is a high likelihood of a re-launch as early as today, 15 May.

Thanks to Kevin MacLeod for the great intro music!

Ken Cook is @thekencook http://thekencook.com

Mike Mueller is @mikemueller http://areweconnected.com