{"id":11259,"date":"2017-05-17T18:27:23","date_gmt":"2017-05-17T12:57:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cigniti.com\/blog\/?p=11259"},"modified":"2020-03-17T19:52:24","modified_gmt":"2020-03-17T14:22:24","slug":"ransomware-made-wannacry-10-things-disaster-taught","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cigniti.com\/blog\/ransomware-made-wannacry-10-things-disaster-taught\/","title":{"rendered":"Ransomware made you WannaCry? 10 Things the Disaster taught"},"content":{"rendered":"

200,000+ victims, 150 countries affected, Microsoft Windows XP Operating System attacked, ATMs shut, and online transactions stalled.<\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The experts have warned that the threat is not yet over.<\/span><\/p>\n

On May 12, 2017, the world was stormed by a Ransomware<\/strong> aptly named WannaCry<\/em> <\/strong>that was programmed to encrypt all data on a system for unlocking which, the hackers demanded a hefty ransom.<\/p>\n

The question remains, can such data breaches be mired or totally clogged with anti-virus programs, or there is a serious need for a coherent Security Testing strategy?<\/p>\n

Though Cybersecurity firms have warned organizations and individuals against paying the bitcoin ransom, the hackers behind the malware have already made a minimal gain of $60,512.82. However, Cyber security experts and connoisseurs from the industry maintain that such attacks on the internet will continue to grow and threaten the core existence of the web in the global socio-economic sphere.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, according to Reuters, the motive of the WannaCry Ransomware attack was not necessarily to make money, but to create a random disruption across the Web world. Russia, Taiwan, Ukraine, and India are said to be the worst affected countries, specifically in the scenario where companies or individuals have been relying on unsupported or pirated versions of Microsoft Windows.<\/em><\/p>\n

Experts across the web world are coming up with quick remedies to safeguard against the virus. For instance, installing reputable antivirus software, regular back-up, enabling pop-up blocker, being alert over emails, alerting authorities in case of an attack, and the extreme amongst all – to remain disconnected from the internet. However, detaching from the Internet is almost like breaking away from your basic business requirement.<\/p>\n

\"Source:

Source: An ISTR special report: Ransomware and Businesses 2016<\/p><\/div>\n

Special report by Symantec on Ransomware and Business has noted that, \u2018The proportion of new variants classified as crypto-ransomware was growing year-on-year. That trend has continued into 2016 and, so far this year, all bar one of the new ransomware families documented by Symantec are crypto-ransomware.\u2019<\/p>\n

Knowing so well that such attacks will not stop and only intensify, enterprises today are in a serious need to build applications\/software that are tested rigorously for their security and are, at the same time, able to alert the users against any probable cyber-attack.<\/p>\n

How can a comprehensive Security Testing plan work, and what have we learnt from this recent attack to build a robust plan? We discuss 10 things this disaster has taught us about avoiding malware attacks on the system.<\/p>\n

1) Follow a Four-phase Approach to Cyber Security<\/strong><\/h3>\n

F-Secure<\/em>, a cyber-security and privacy company based in Helsinki, Finland, suggests that one of the best approaches to cyber security is the following four-part one: Predict, Prevent, Detect, and Respond<\/strong><\/p>\n

This essentially translates to: predicting by performing an exposure analysis; preventing by deploying a defensive solution to reduce the attack surface; detecting by monitoring infrastructure for signs of intrusion or suspicious behaviour, and responding by determining how a breach happened and what impact it had on systems.<\/p>\n

2) Remain Cautious While Opening Attachments<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The most common ways of installing the virus are through compromised emails and websites. It might be elementary for many now to be extremely cautious while opening an attachment from unknown email addresses. However, it is surprising to note that sheer curiosity has driven many unsuspecting recipients to open attachments, causing malware attacks. Along similar lines, it is crucial to stop clicking links that you don\u2019t trust, and stop downloading software from unknown sources.<\/p>\n

Watch out especially for \u201csocial engineering\u201d, which is an email that looks like it\u2019s coming from your bank, a tech support scam, or a fishy social media campaign, cybercriminals have gotten rather deft at tricking even tech-savvy surfers.<\/p>\n

Awareness while handling email plays a major role in thwarting possible malware, as malicious attachments are often disguised as benign promotional offers.<\/p>\n

3) Do not call\/take calls from fake tech support numbers<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Tech support scams have time and again proved to be the bane of our existence. These often involve pop-ups from fake companies offering to help you with a malware infection. How to identify that they are fake? A real security company would never market to you via pop-up saying they believe your computer is infected.<\/p>\n

They would particularly not serve up a (random) 1-800 number and charge money to fix it. If you have security software that detects malware, it will confirm such a finding in your scan, and it will not encourage you to call and shell out money to remove the infection. Those are the characteristics of a scam trying to infect you.<\/p>\n

4) Choosing a Robust Anti-Virus Protection<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The volume of anti-virus protection software packages available far outweighs their true capacity. For this reason, it is often a daunting task to choose the right anti-virus protection. The following are some of the factors to consider while choosing the right kind of software for anti-virus protection:<\/p>\n