Author Topic: Massive ransomware attack  (Read 4253 times)

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Offline Maik

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Massive ransomware attack
« on: Saturday, 13 May, 2017 @ 17:48:46 »
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NHS faces weekend of chaos after 'major' cyber attack

The NHS is facing a weekend of chaos as IT experts work "around the clock" to restore vital computer systems hit by a debilitating cyber attack.

Operations and appointments were cancelled for patients across the country as up to 40 trusts in England and Scotland were hit by the ransomware.

Other health organisations shut down servers as a precautionary measure leaving hospitals and GP surgeries with a backlog of postponed appointments to deal with.
http://www.itv.com/news/2017-05-12/nhs-cyber-issue/


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Cyber-attack: Europol says it was unprecedented in scale

Ransomware encrypted data on at least 75,000 computers in 99 countries on Friday. Payments were demanded for access to be restored.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-39907965


List of NHS trusts affected by the cyber attack


Ransomware: What is it and how to avoid it

Offline TonyD

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Re: Massive ransomware attack
« Reply #1 on: Saturday, 13 May, 2017 @ 21:55:31 »
Caught the Home Secretary saying not to worry, there will be Backups to restore from....

Except, if these "hackers" are as professional as their scope suggests, their programs will have been active for months, encrypting and decrypting on the fly, and then ptesenting as a single, mass attack on a nominated day...

...which means, of course, all the Backups are encrypted too!

Online BeeTee

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Re: Massive ransomware attack
« Reply #2 on: Saturday, 13 May, 2017 @ 23:09:56 »
Microsoft releases security update for Windows XP to block WannaCrypt attacks
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Microsoft has released security updates for several unsupported versions of Microsoft Windows, including Windows XP, to block WannaCrypt ransomware attacks.

The ransomware WannaCrypt has been making the rounds in May 2017: it infects Windows machines, encrypts files, asks for ransomware, and spreads like a worm.

Microsoft published detailed information on the vulnerability on the new Malware Protection Center blog. According to the information, the attackers exploit te "recently" patched SMB EternalBlue vulnerability which sends custom packets to SMBv1 servers. Microsoft released patches for all supported versions of Windows on the March 2017 patch day.

While Microsoft did release patches for supported versions of Windows, it appears that the attackers did target Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 and earlier versions of Windows only.

Rest of article at link below..

https://www.ghacks.net/2017/05/13/microsoft-releases-security-update-for-windows-xp-to-block-wannacrypt-attacks/
« Last Edit: Saturday, 13 May, 2017 @ 23:11:30 by BeeTee »

Offline Maik

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Re: Massive ransomware attack
« Reply #3 on: Sunday, 14 May, 2017 @ 16:58:05 »
Reads as though most home users should be protected (assuming they have automatic updates enabled / regularly update manually).