Were North Korean hackers to blame for the recent WannaCry ransomware attack? Was it possibly a government insider, or maybe both? Right now, we don’t truly know. But what we do know is that this attack has hit worldwide and everybody is scrambling to ensure network protection.
This attack comes in the form of a virus that locks computers down until a $300 ransom is paid via Bitcoin. As of May 15, 2017, the virus had hit over 300,000 computers according to NPR. Brad Smith, president and chief legal officer at Microsoft wrote a blog on May 14 to address concerns over increasing collective action between technology providers and end users. Smith states in his blog that the exploits used in the attack were stolen from the National Security Agency (NSA) and that Microsoft was fully aware of the exploits and had released an update to address the vulnerability.
So, if Microsoft released an update months ago, how did this hit so many people? The answer is simple: some organizations and individuals give little regard to updates. Many people work in an environment, like hospitals, that require a break in network activity to conduct an update or patch. When you work in a fast paced environment that requires constant network connectivity to conduct critical operations, updates tend to take a backseat. When a technology provider releases an update or patch, they do so because of a known vulnerability. Today’s organization’s should make updates a priority regardless of the environment.
Unfortunately, it takes attacks of this magnitude for organizations and individuals to take a hard look at current practices and embrace measures to protect networks from vicious cyberattacks. This recent attack is no different than the previous Cryptolocker or other ransomware attacks. This cycle will never cease until people continually patch and backup systems; complacency opens the door for new attacks.
Our DSI team took a look at No More Ransom, an initiative launched to help victims of ransomware retrieve encrypted data without paying criminals, and their number one piece of advice to prevent data loss is to—back-up, back-up, back-up! This is a message we have been telling our clients and prospective clients since we launched more than 40 years ago. Save at least two copies of your critical data to ensure that information can be retrieved in an event of a criminal attack.