On Friday, May 12th a new strain of Ransomware, known as WannaCry, infected computers across the world.

Among the institutions affected were the British National Health Service, FedEx, and Lakeridge Hospital in Oshawa.

Fortunately, the virus has not affected Pund-IT or any of our clients.

For those interested in learning more best available security hardware and software, our partner, Barracuda Networks, will be hosting webinars starting today at noon and every day until May 31st. Please follow this link to register:

https://register.gotowebinar.com/rt/8460414703982379011?source=Pund-it

Please feel free to call us at 519-342-4004 should you have any additional questions.

WannaCry Overview

Timeline

August 2016: Confidential National Security Agency Hacking Techniques Stolen

Friday, April 14th 2017: Leak of NSA Cyber-Weapons

Friday, May 12th 2017: Wave of Ransomware Attacks

Microsoft Response

Culprits

Motivation

What does this mean for organizations who have been attacked?

What should responsible organizations do to protect themselves?

  1. Install security patches immediately
  2. Update Operating Systems to Windows 10

What should executives ask their IT team?

  1. Can you give me an accurate number of systems that are vulnerable?
  1. What are the security layers in place?
  1. Why are we not willing to pay for upgrades, security, backup?
  1. How do we communicate to end-users if attacked?

What should organizations tell employees to prevent future attacks?

  1. Do not click suspicious links or open suspicious attachments

Create a Strategic Data Backup Plan

Going Forward