💲Billion Dollar Cyber Attack Ransomwares 🧑💻
Ransomware is a malware designed to deny a user or organization access to files on their computer. By encrypting these files and demanding a ransom payment for the decryption key, cyberattacks place organizations in a position where paying the ransom is the easiest and cheapest way to regain access to their files. Some variants have added additional functionality — such as data theft — to provide further incentive for ransomware victims to pay the ransom.
Ransomware has quickly become the most prominent and visible type of malware. Recent ransomware attacks have impacted hospitals’ ability to provide crucial services, crippled public services in cities, and caused significant damage to various organizations.
A Famous Ransomware Attack WannaCry
The WannaCry ransomware attack was a worldwide cyberattack in May 2017 by the WannaCry ransomware Crypto-worm, which targeted computers running the Microsoft Windows operating system by encrypting data and demanding ransom payments in the Bitcoin cryptocurrency . It propagated through Eternal Blue, an exploit developed by the United States National Security Agency (NSA) for older Windows systems. Eternal Blue was stolen and leaked by a group called The Shadow Brokers a month prior to the attack. While Microsoft had released patches previously to close the exploit, much of WannaCry’s spread was from organizations that had not applied these, or were using older Windows systems that were past their end-of-life. These patches were imperative to organizations’ cyber security but many were not implemented due to ignorance of their importance. Some have claimed a need for 24/7 operation, aversion to risking having formerly working applications breaking because of patch changes, lack of personnel or time to install them, or other reasons.
How To be Safe From These Types of Attacks
