You don\u2019t need to have a degree in computer science to understand the impact of a globally spread cyberattack.<\/p>\n
Wreaking havoc in organizations in more than 150 countries<\/a>, the aptly named WannaCryptor, popularly referred to as WannaCry, ransomware has spread like wildfire over the past week \u2013 but this threat can impact you, too, both personally and professionally \u2013 if you\u2019re not protected.<\/p>\n Here we talk about what happened, how ransomware works, and what you can do to protect yourself from these kinds of serious threats.<\/p>\n On Friday May 12th, 2017, WannaCryptor began to spread across the planet at unprecedented scale and speed, targeting a flaw found in the Microsoft Windows operating system.<\/p>\n ESET clients have reported as many as 66,566 attack attempts in just a few days, with almost half of them originating out of Russia.<\/p>\n Note: \u201cattempts\u201d is the operative word, here, as ESET had already detected (and reported on) attempts to exploit this Windows vulnerability as far back as April 25 \u2013 flagged by ESET as Win32\/Filecoder.WannaCryptor.D<\/a> \u2013 and thus protected its clients before this particular malware (\u201cmalicious software\u201d) strain was even created.<\/p>\n Those hit by the attack, however, saw their files locked up on their PC, leaving only two accessible: the WannaCryptor.D malware itself and an instruction note on how to pay up before everything is deleted off the machine. Cybercriminals demanded many hundreds of dollars per victim, payable in tough-to-trace bitcoin payments.<\/p>\n As with the case with WannaCryptor, ransomware is when cyberthieves try to extort money from you to unlock your device.<\/p>\n Ransomware can be spread in several different ways, be it spam that led to a phishing attack or via a so-called drive-by download, where a browser\u2019s vulnerability is exploited should you visit specific malicious websites. You may even get a phone call from someone who claims they\u2019ve detected an issue with your computer and they\u2019re here to help (ironically, they\u2019ll help you lock your device up).<\/p>\n Even if a victim pays the ransom to unfreeze the computer, there\u2019s no guarantee the thieves won\u2019t do it again \u2013 after all, they\u2019ve paid once already.<\/p>\n If you get this extortion message, never pay the criminals to release your computer<\/a>. Instead, try to restore your computer to a prior state using \u201cSystem Restore\u201d (type System Restore in the search window). If this doesn\u2019t work, restart your computer in \u201cSafe Mode\u201d (usually by pressing F8 when booting up) and then run internet security software to remove the threat \u2013 which you should have on your machine already, of course.<\/p>\n You can protect yourself from ransomware in a handful of ways:<\/p>\nSo, what happened with WannaCryptor?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
How ransomware works<\/strong><\/h2>\n
How to fight it<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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