This time last week, news was breaking of the largest and most advanced ever ransomware attack, causing havoc internationally. Here in the UK, the NHS was hit, resulting in chaos, cancellations, and no small amount of concern. This was WannaCry, which has infected over 140,000 computers worldwide.
The great news for datamills secure clients is that your information has been safe all the time. Our antivirus’s advanced detection capabilities based on next-generation technologies were able to intercept this threat since its emergence, giving you unbreachable protection against ransomware. Great news indeed, when you consider some of the systems which were infiltrated.
What is WannaCry?
WannaCry is a type of malware (malicious software) called ransomware. Ransomware locks your data so that you can’t access it, demanding a ransom to be paid in order to unlock the data. Whether or not access is granted if the ransom is paid is another matter.
Usually ransomware is spread by infected emails or infected links. However, in the case of WannaCry, it spreads by exploiting a security loophole that is found in most versions of Windows. It is commonly believed now that this type of attack was developed by the National Security Agency (NSA) in the US as a cyber-weapon and it was leaked to the public earlier in April along with other classified data allegedly stolen from the agency. It is particularly aggressive in its infection method.
How can I protect my data?
- You need the best antivirus and antimalware protection in place, and you need it to be up-to-date, since new virus and malware definitions are appearing all the time.
- It is best practice to have all your important data backed up, and to know that you can restore it successfully.
- Following this incident, Microsoft have released patches for all Windows operating systems, including unsupported versions. It is essential that all patches are installed on all of your computers and servers A.S.A.P.
The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has published advice for small business in the wake of the WannaCry attack. Click here for NCSC advice.
After last weekend, we at datamills came into a normal day at the office on Monday – not a single customer had suffered in the attack, due to the supreme nature of protection offered by our datamills secure package.
If you don’t have datamills secure, and want to know how we can help you, give us a call straight away on 0114 287 0510.
If you’re an existing customer, and have any questions about this attack, or any other IT security issue, don’t hesitate to call too for advice.
