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Ransomware cyber attacks and what to do about them

You will have seen the media coverage regarding ransomware and the cyber attack on the NHS and other global organisations.

This version of ransomware is called WannaCry, WannaCrypt or WannaDecrypt.

There are many ways that this ransomware can infect an IT system, but perhaps the most common is when someone clicks on an email attachment. The ransomware is activated by double-clicking an attachment or it may be activated automatically when browsing the web.

A patch was released by Microsoft in March 2017 to deal with this vulnerability, for supported operating systems which include Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows 10, Server 2012, Server 2008, and Server 2008R2.

Paul Page, Head of Support and Customer Relations at Sharp-aX Limited commented:

  1. Don’t use out of date software, and implement patches as often as possible.
  2. Be suspicious of attachments on emails and do not rely on staff not opening them.
  3. Strong anti-virus software is a must, such as Sophos.
  4. Plan that your defenses will fail; what is your recovery plan? How long will it take?
  5. Lastly, don’t panic. These types of viruses have been prevalent for some time now and while customers can lose data to these attacks, the steps above will help minimize the long term impact.

Posted: 15th May 2017